But they are conceptually different from unions that aren't actual companies. Worker cooperatives and union-founded companies take on actual business risks: it's up to them to find markets for their products and services and organize themselves to make the most efficient use of the capital they own (much of which is the skills and knowledge of their workers/owners). Traditional unions do not take on business risks; they expect the corporations their workers all work for to do that. But refusing to take on business risk also means you are giving up upside; risk and reward go together. So unions that don't take the initiative to become worker cooperatives or actual corporations should not be complaining that the corporations are taking more upside.