Chrysler to become a worker co-op?

Sorry to be a stickler - but in order for it to be a worker co-op wouldn't the workers have to own basically all of the shares?  Further, wouldn't each member be entitled to the same number of votes on matters requiring voting; e.g. 1 member - 1 vote?

How is this any different than a pension fund owning shares?  The only difference I see is that the UAW's healthcare trust will own a lot of the publicly traded Chrysler LLC shares - that's not a co-op.  Co-ops aren't even publicly traded.  Somehow, I doubt that each UAW member has a vote on matters of the UAW healthcare trust.  As a trust, there are probably a limited number of voting members who are elected by the UAW membership to oversee the trust.  I somehow doubt that many, if any at all, issues of the UAW healthcare trust are voted on directly by UAW membership.  This isn't a worker co-op.  A worker co-op would be each employee of Chrysler LLC becoming an equal owner in the company and having equal voting rights. 

Again - this is hardly anything new; through my pension I own equities & investments in all kinds of companies. 

Sorry to anal-retentive.

Second the -=+=-  comment.

UAW being majority shareholder changes nothing. Their role is going to be more akin to the Onatrio Teachers pension fund taking ownership in things like malls- definitely watching their investment... but not taing a hands on management role.

Unlike Teacehrs, the issue is not so much getting a good return on investment... the issue is making sure your 'investment' doesn't go belly up on you. I think where they might throw their weight is if for example they think Fiat was pushing for more risks than they thought was in their interest. Something like that.

So not only is it not remotely like a co-op, there really isn't much going on in the fact of UAWs ownership stake. It was just better that than getting nothing. In a way they are in a similar position to Fiat. Fiat risks no cash, but is putting a lot in on the expectation Chrysler survives and they profit by that. Same for the UAW- they already lost getting real money for the benefit plan. That was gone. But they had to get something in return even though losing the cash inputs was inevitable. So like Fiat, if Chrysler survives- what they got in negotiation will actually be worth something.

What's going to be interesting is the conflict between the fiduciary duties that the UAW just picked up re the pension trust and the unions obligations towards its active members.  At this point it's purely a question of survival (in either capacity) but, on the assumption that Chrysler doesn't go belly up, the two positions will definitely come into conflict.

The conflict has increased - the pension plan trustees have always had a fiduciary responsibility to pensioners (current and future) which includes maximizing the value of the pension fund.  With significant amounts of Chrysler stock in the fund the union is now in the position where something that's good, or at least appears to be good, for current employees is very bad for the pension fund.  [The only way that the fund can realize value from the stock it holds is by selling it - anything that impairs the value of that stock impairs the ability of the fund to meet its obligations.  As a result, if at some time the stock markets feel that some union position (or settlement) is damaging to Chrysler's prospects the share price will go down and the value of the pension fund will go down so the ability of the fund to pay pensions, cover retiree medical costs, etc. will be reduced.]