By Len Krimerman Worker-owned enterprises, sometimes called “worker cooperatives,” have a long history, even in the United States. But they face an uncertain future. In May, 1791, Philadelphia’s Journeyman Carpenters started the nation’s first working-class cooperative. A century or so later, the Knights of Labor were advocating industrial cooperatives as a way to replace the […]

By Corey Rosen If you’ve worn Gore-Tex lately or flown on United Airlines, you’ve patronized a company most of whose stock is owned widely by its workers, through employee stock ownership plans, or ESOPs. During the last decade, the number of ESOPs and their control of assets has boomed. ESOPs now exist in about 11,000 […]

By Chitra Somayaji Cooperatives come in several types: producer-owned, consumer-owned, and worker-owned, the last being our focus here. Unlike ESOPs, pure worker coops are 100% controlled by the worker-owners, normally on a one-person one-vote basis (although some coops have hired additional employees who are not owners). Worker-owned coops are most prevalent in bookstores, building/renovation firms, […]

By Peter Pitegoff “What an awesome gathering!” Kim Cook, a union organizer from Seattle, smiled as she looked around the meeting room of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees in Philadelphia in mid-June. Just one month earlier, this affiliate of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) had chartered […]

On May 12, the largest union demonstration in years hit New York City streets. Workers from the public sector, services, and construction trades came together to demand that city and state surpluses go to raise worker pay instead of tax breaks for the rich. Even the police union was there. This is yet another sign […]