This week, cooperators from nine co-ops and two co-op associations get together to discuss what talk about their co-ops, and the cooperative ecosystem in the Northeast US.
Then, Kenzie Love looks at how worker cooperatives deal with price inflation, and why the ways that worker co-ops respond to economic shocks is so different from how traditional businesses do.
Movers and Shakers on the Northeast US Co-op Scene
by WHMP Radio
Movers and shakers from Co-op Power, the Old Creamery Co-op, Real Pickles, River Valley Co-op, & UMass Five College Credit Union, Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives, Downtown Sounds, Flat Iron coffee house, Neighboring Food Co-op Association, Our Family Farms, and PV Squared.
Inflation Poses Unique Challenges for Worker Co-ops
by Kenzie Love
In order to keep its prices competitive, a worker co-op that decides to cut costs in the face of inflation might thus take an approach similar to that of La Siembra in 2008. The Co-op responded to that year’s recession by reducing the work hours of some members, and the salary of others, and leaving those who couldn’t afford any cuts untouched, allowing all the members to remain employed.
REI Workers Look to Shake up Co-op’s Board Amid Push for a First Contract
Nonprofit Quarterly — To date, management recalcitrance has stymied workers’ efforts to win a first contract, so the REI Union is trying a new tactic: Running candidates for the board of the 24-million-member outdoor equipment retailer, the nation’s largest cooperative. REI has nine elected board members, who serve staggered three-year terms. This year, the REI Union is backing the campaigns of two nonprofit leaders as candidates—Shemona Moreno, executive director of 350 Seattle, and Tefere Gebre, chief program officer at Greenpeace USA—in hopes of installing pro-worker voices at the highest levels of the company...
Worker Co-op Spotlight: Repaired Nations & Root Volume
US Federation of Worker Cooperatives — As I started to build more of this business idea, I took some classes from Uptima Entrepreneur Cooperative and I’ve been taking classes at Laney Community College in carpentry and this semester I started woodworking. One of my classmates was Mia Jackson, one of the founders of Repaired Nations who had just launched their Cooperative Work-Based Learning Program, so I applied and here I am today as a graduate...
North East Housing Co-op
Co-operatives First — Local leaders including representatives of the credit union, Co-op, municipalities, and industry players decided to lead a project to start a housing co-operative to help meet the need. They knew not only that housing stock was low, but that rural rental rates didn’t make the area profitable for private developers. Using the co-op model, they knew they could take the solution into their own hands, and capitalize on funding programs like the Canadian Housing Development Program...
Compensation in Worker Co-ops
Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation (YouTube) — A short presentation on compensation in worker co-operatives...
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Grassroots Disaster Relief in Asheville [Audio version]
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