What is a Worker Cooperative?

The Economic Democracy Training Series is a joint project between the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative and the MIT Community Innovators Lab. This 10-session, 20-hour series of workshops will introduce community members, residents, youth, and community leaders to major concepts in economic development, political economy, and, most importantly, economic democracy.

Worker cooperatives are a powerful tool for economic and community development. This resource describes their role in creating a more just economy. It provides an overview of the benefits of the cooperative form, with examples of existing cooperatives and quotes from worker-owners. The resource also describes current initiatives to develop cooperatives by nonprofits, as well as government initiatives to spur the growth of the sector. 

The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) presents this report, Worker Cooperatives for New York City: A Vision for Addressing Income Inequality, as an examination of one solution for the challenges facing New York’s workers: worker cooperative businesses. Indeed, the report’s key finding is that worker cooperatives can easily fit into a broad campaign to cope with poverty, long-term joblessness, the growing isolation of low-wage workers and unprecedented levels of income inequality.

This presentation goes over the steps of the cooperative transition process and outlines benefits, challegnes, and key questions of a business transition.

Link: here