My first job was in a fast-food restaurant. The pay was low, there were never enough hours to go around, and we were always understaffed. When I got pregnant with my son, there was no paid maternity leave, forcing me to rely on family members to scrape by. After two and a half years working the register and serving up chili cheeseburgers, I had no savings.
So, when a friend told me a job opened up as a packer at the employee-owned aircraft parts supplier where she worked, I jumped at the opportunity.
I got hired to pack parts, label and seal them and send them on to shipping. From day one, it was night and day from my fast-food experience. The first thing I noticed was that everyone was so nice and happy. My first week, they invited me to a colleague’s birthday celebration.
The next thing I noticed was that many of my colleagues owned homes and nice cars, and I remembered thinking it was a sign my future would be brighter. It also struck me that many of them had been at the company for 10, 15, 20 years or more, which was way different from the fast-food world, where people changed jobs all the time, seeking higher pay or a better schedule.
One day someone told me they had put a down payment on a new house thanks to our employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, a retirement plan that allows the company to share ownership with workers. I had heard the term ESOP in my first month, but didn’t really give it much thought. Hearing that it could turn into a down payment for a house caught my attention.
When I got my first ESOP statement, it really hit home that I was an owner. The balance was small, but it was more than the nothing I had saved in my two and half years in fast food. And it was wealth I was building just for doing my job. I’ve now gotten 13 of those annual statements, and the value has kept growing and growing, along with my peace of mind for the future.
When I was growing up my dad worked two jobs every day — as a landscaper and on an aircraft parts assembly line — to support me and my four siblings and to be able to save for retirement. Knowing the ESOP is there for my retirement has enabled me to be there for my son without having to work all the time. I’m able to take him on trips and pay for his sports programs. He wants to go to Cal State Fullerton, and it’s so comforting to know that I’ll be able to help him, if necessary.
It isn’t just the financial rewards that have been life changing. Being an owner has given me a sense of initiative and drive that has changed the way I think about myself. I’ve gone from packer to picker (I had to learn how to drive a forklift to make that jump!) and then to inspector. Now I am a supervisor of the warehouse. A few years ago, I joined our ESOP committee, which helps generate awareness and excitement about shared ownership companywide.
My favorite thing about being an employee owner is that everything we do is for us. The more we pack, the more we ship, the quicker we reach our goals, the more we all benefit. We’re not working hard to fatten someone else’s wallet, but to secure our futures. Everyone, no matter their level, is encouraged to come up with ideas to improve efficiency and increase employee engagement. Sometimes the ideas are small ones: we recently started packing small items in padded envelopes instead of multiple small boxes, saving on packaging and shipping costs. But it all adds up.
I’m expecting my second child at the end of the year. When I pause to think about how different my life and future are as an employee-owner compared to my first pregnancy when I was a fast-food worker, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. Employee ownership has been such a powerful force in my life that I am surprised it isn’t more widespread: ESOPs make up less than 1% of all private businesses in California, and there are only about 6,500 nationwide.
I was excited to learn there’s a growing movement, Expanding ESOPs, to increase employee ownership in our state and beyond. By sharing my story this Labor Day, I hope to propel their effort and help make this year’s holiday about more than barbecues and a symbolic pat on the back for America’s workers. As we honor workers, let’s commit to sharing with them more of the wealth they help create. That would be a real reason to celebrate.
Laura Delgado is a warehouse supervisor at Proponent, an employee-owned aerospace parts distributor based in Brea, California.
