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United Arilines's pilots and non-union employees will be getting stock options in return for wage concessions to help keep the company afloat. United is still trying to negotiate with mechanics and flight attendants, but both unions have been much more resistant on the issue.

At its 2014 convention, the United Steelworkers union passed a resolution supporting union worker cooperatives and employee ownership more broadly, including explicit support for the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives.

The United Steelworkers and the Mondragon Corporation (the holding company for the Mondragon cooperatives) have agreed to a joint collaborative agreement for the development manufacturing companies in the U.S. that will be organized as worker cooperatives with steelworker representation.

The announcement by Untied Airlines that is might file for bankruptcy has prompted a number of media stories on whether the employee ownership plan at the company was part of the problem (see, for instance, the excellent article on this topic in the New York Times August 15).

Labor unions at United Airline have made it clear that they do not want to exchange further concessions for more stock in the company's ESOP. Company officials, meanwhile, have made it equally clear that further contributions to the ESOP are very unlikely absent these concessions.

There are interesting and helpful resources and research coming from Michael Darger and others at the University of Minnesota Extension program. Most recently, they conducted a rigorous survey of the state’s business owners that offers real insights into how employee ownership fits into their plans.

In "S Corp ESOP Legislation Benefits and Costs: Public Policy and Tax Analysis," Steven Freeman and Michael Knoll of the University of Pennsylvania conclude that S corporation ESOPs add an annual $14 billion in additional compensation that would not have been paid absent an ESOP, lead to annual j

The University of Wisconsin's Executive Education Center's excellent "Employee Ownership Management Program" will be held October 2-4 in Madison, WI. The program offers an intensive, participative investigation of how to make employee ownership work effectively.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison has started a three-day program for managers and supervisors on managing an employee ownership company. Courses will focus on communications, team-based management, marketing employee ownership, how ESOPs work, and other topics.

One of the most contentious stock options issues is whether unvested options should be included in marital property in divorce settlements. In Fisher v. Fisher (Pa. No. 170, 4/25/01), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that they were.