Cooperatives

From Member-Managed LLCs To Cooperative Reform For Inclusive Economies

December 11, 2024 Trebor Scholz, Anne-Pauline De Cler, Michelle Lee, Morshed Mannan and Stefano Tortorici, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Cooperatives, Immigrant Rights, Transnational, Worker Rights and Jobs

Amidst the global surge of refugees and migrants seeking economic opportunities, the call for inclusive, democratic, and cooperative models is more pressing than ever. With 2025 designated as the UN’s International Year of Cooperatives, there is a critical need to reform cooperative laws to ensure that no marginalized worker is excluded. This essay explores how inclusive and democratic cooperatives, alongside innovative models like member-managed limited liability companies (LLCs), can address these global labor challenges. Imagine a world where everyone, regardless of their legal status, can fully participate in cooperative ventures.

Pittsburgh’s East End Food Co-op Workers Push To Boycott Israel

December 9, 2024 Kate Daher, Mondoweiss. Resist! Anti-war Movement, BDS Movement, Cooperatives, Israel, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity, Pittsburgh, Unions

At the November meeting of the Pittsburgh East End Food Co-op (EEFC) Board of Directors, UE local chief shop steward Fritz Geist read aloud a petition organized by union and co-op members advocating for a member-owner referendum to boycott Israeli-sourced products in the store. Inspired by the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and acting in line with the international union’s (United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America) solidarity with Palestine, the local co-op workers launched their BDS campaign last July after they voted to end the co-op’s relationship with Israeli products.

Sources Of Permanent Capital For Cooperatives

December 4, 2024 Bruce J. Reynolds, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Capital, Cooperatives, Economic Security, Worker Rights

Permanent capital provides financial stability for cooperatives. It consists of all the capital reserves that are unallocated to members. Unallocated equity can be defined as: ”The share of net margin (savings) from member and/or non-member business retained by the cooperative for operating purposes. This is considered permanent capital in that there is no obligation to redeem this equity to current or past members unless the cooperative is dissolved” (University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives). Such permanent reserves provide a financial buffer during times of economic recession without having to impair member equity.

The Potential Of Cooperatives For Economic Equality

November 25, 2024 Cooperatives Europe. Create! Cooperatives, European Union (EU), United Nations, wealth inequality

Released on October 17th under the title “Social Development in Times of Converging Crises: A Call for Global Action”, the report is the output of the global call by the GA resolution 77/281 in April 2023 to promote the social and solidarity economy for sustainable development. Overall, the report estimates that the economic cost of crisis mitigation from 2020 until 2030 will translate into “a cumulative output loss of over $50 trillion”, to the detriment of social development. It is a global plea to prioritise people and the planet over profit, and for public-private social investments to be at the same level as their economic counterparts.

Housing Cooperatives: Preserving Affordable Community Ownership

November 23, 2024 North Missoula CDC, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Affordable Housing, Cooperatives, Housing

With affordable housing becoming increasingly scarce in Montana, innovative solutions are more important than ever. This documentary short highlights an inspiring cooperative housing model designed to prevent displacement and create home ownership opportunities for Missoula residents. This initiative, driven by the collaborative efforts of North Missoula Community Development Corporation (NMCDC) and Neighborworks Montana (NWMT), offers a promising blueprint for addressing housing challenges across Montana.

Adapting Employee Ownership For Truly Democratic Businesses

November 12, 2024 Kosta Juri and Tej Gonza, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Cooperatives, Democracy, ESOPs, Globalization, New Economy, Worker Ownership

The form of globalisation that has prevailed – one that primarily serves the interests of financial and corporate elites – is, to a large extent, a political and legal artefact, not an inevitable outcome of an increasingly interconnected global economy. More specifically, it is primarily attributable to the commodified nature of the business enterprise, which is essentially a human organisation but legally treated as a commodity in our economies. A prime example of the damaging effects of business commodification is the private equity industry. Private equity firms typically acquire businesses with growth potential (often through a leveraged buyout, a mechanism originally devised by Louis Kelso in the 1950s for worker buyouts), restructure them to maximise profitability, and then sell them for a profit.

Co-Op Rhody Introduces Equity Into Cannabis-Based Business Model

November 2, 2024 Malikia Johnson, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Cannabis, Community, Cooperatives, Marijuana, Racism

Co-op Rhody is a grassroots coalition of worker-entrepreneurs and organizers from local groups such as UFCW Local 328, Reclaim RI, and Break the Cycle Cooperative Hub. It also includes national cooperative and industry specialists who share a commitment to the vision of a worker-owned economy in Rhode Island. We had a conversation with Co-op Rhody members Andre Dev, David-Allen “Bear” Sumner Sr., and Emma Karnes discussing their journeys into the worker cooperative movement, the complexities of implementing social equity in the cannabis industry, and the need for hope that is strategic and withstanding.

Co-operatives Are At A Pivotal Point

October 22, 2024 Kenzie Love, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Organize! Cooperatives, New Economy, Solidarity Economy, United Nations

When the United Nations General Assembly declared 2012 as the first International Year of Co-operatives, it seemed to herald a bright future for the movement. With the theme of “Co-operative Enterprises Build a Better World”, the International Year of Co-operatives had three main objectives: increasing awareness, promoting growth, and establishing appropriate policies. As CWCF Executive Director Hazel Corcoran notes, it was a heady time. There were large events including a summit in Quebec City held that year, the international Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade was unveiled, and numerous smaller- scale events took place.

This Land Is Co-Op Land

September 28, 2024 Amie Stager, In These Times. Create! Cooperatives, Farmer Labor Party, History, Minnesota, Worker Rights and Jobs

I’m standing on the dock, watching sunlight reflect off the waves, when the sound of a bell calls my attention to the Finnish dance hall towering over the lakeshore. The mojakka—a Finnish beef soup — is ready. I head to the dining room with the dozens of other people who have gathered here at Mesaba Co-op Park for the annual midsummer festival, a weekend of live music, talent shows, maypole dancing and meals. The park consists of more than 240 acres of land, including a spring-fed lake. Such places are usually owned and administered by a government or kept as private retreats by companies or rich people. Mesaba, in contrast, is neither privately nor government-owned, but collectively owned by members of a cooperative who foster relationships with each other and the land outside of corporate or government structures.

The Baristas Who Took Over Their Café

September 15, 2024 Osita Nwanevu, In These Times. Create! Baltimore, Cooperatives, New Economy, Worker Rights and Jobs

In July 2023, early morning visitors to Baltimore’s Common Ground coffee shop found a sign taped to the door⁠. With a thank you to the Hampden community that had sustained it for 25 years, owner Michael Krupp announced the shop would be ceasing operations “effective immediately.” Common Ground employees released a statement saying they had only been notified themselves the previous afternoon and, notably, had been a few months into forming a union. According to Common Ground barista Nic Koski, the effort was sparked by “general workplace concerns in terms of people wanting more fair, equitable wages, especially between in front of house and back of house, and better treatment — wanting to look into health care and benefits.”

Aligning Our National Organizations With Co-Op Principles

August 20, 2024 Rebecca Kemble, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Cooperatives, Democracy, Self-Determination, Worker Rights and Jobs

In his 2010 Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO) article “What should our movement look like in 2040?,” John McNamara, past president of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC, “the Federation”) and current Co-Director of the Northwest Cooperative Development Center, used the metaphor of building a house. He saw the first four years of the USFWC (2004-2008) as the foundation laid by the cooperation and collaboration amongst three democratic regional formations: the Western Worker Cooperative Conference, the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy and the Midwest Worker Cooperative Conference.

Unlocking Community Energy Democracy

August 17, 2024 Nick Pearce, Resilience. Create! Cooperatives, Energy, Energy Democracy, United Kingdom (UK)

‍The UK Labour Party’s overlooked Local Power Plan could be an ambitious force ushering in a new generation of renewable energy by handing power to the people. Although the possibilities for local energy democracy abound, public detail on the plan is scant. Labour is promising a £3.3BN fund to support community ownership of renewable generation. This would offer grants and loans to local authorities and communities to “create one million owners of local power,” according to the plan. The proposal would be for Great British Energy (GBE), “a new, publicly owned clean generation company”, to partner with councils and community co-ops to develop 8 GW of clean power by the end of the decade.

The Union Co-Ops Council: Seventeen Years Of Forging Worker Alliances

August 2, 2024 Dylan Hatch, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Strategize! Cooperatives, New Economy, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

As the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) celebrates its twentieth anniversary in 2024, July marks seventeen years since the founding of its oldest member council – the Union Co-ops Council. Established to bridge worker cooperatives and organized labor, the Council has become a crucial player in both movements, fueled by the resurgence of unions and worker co-ops throughout the beginning of the 21st century. Just as the USFWC concludes its first twenty years with renewed energy, ambition, and capacity, the Union Co-op Council also reflects on its successes and sets a clear path forward to advance worker ownership and power.

The Transformative Power Of Urban Recipe’s Food Co-Op Model

July 18, 2024 BobJones, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Atlanta, Cooperatives, Food Coop, Food Security

It is 10 a.m. on a Monday morning, and the warehouse at 970 Jefferson Street in Atlanta is humming with activity. A forklift loads a pallet of cereal boxes. Two men are setting up a line of folding tables. Several people casually sort a box of bananas into grocery bags. Fog escapes from a walk-in freezer as someone rolls a dolly filled with boxes toward the line of tables. Five or six people walk in from the bus stop with rolling grocery carts. In the center of the bustling warehouse, JoAnn Crowder stands behind a desk with her clipboard, quietly orchestrating the hustle. For the last 24 years, JoAnn has spent almost every other Monday morning here.

Celebrating 20 Years Of The Worker Cooperative Movement

June 25, 2024 Margaret M. Bau, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Cooperatives, History, USDA, Worker Cooperatives, Worker Rights and Jobs

When Congress enacted the Cooperative Marketing Act of 1926, it directed the USDA to create a range of federal services in support of producer-owned cooperatives. For nearly 100 years, USDA has gathered statistics, conducted research, provided education, and offered cooperative development to America’s agricultural cooperatives. Occasionally, USDA conducted cooperative development among producer co-ops of artisans or created educational materials on housing, shared services, or worker co-ops. Though the name of the agency changed at times, most of USDA’s efforts remained firmly focused on farmer-owned cooperatives.

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