A cooperative is "autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise." - via International Cooperative Alliance.
You and other like-minded people can start one or work to convert an already existing business into a worker-owned co-op.
Q: Why should you start a co-op?
This podcast from Upstream is over an hour-and-a-half, but is extremely worth listening to. It lays out the history of capitalism and why it needs to be torn down with a new human-centered economy taking its place. (Sorry, they don't give us a way to embed the audio. Click on the link below.)
The Myth of Freedom Under Capitalism
Q: OK, Capitalism sucks. So what's this co-op stuff all about?
If you do anything to learn more about democracy in the workplace (or co-ops), start with Richard Wolff. Check out this half-hour show.
and here's an old article on co-ops in The Atlantic.
Q: Are there a lot of co-ops around?
Well, here's list of co-ops posted on Wikipedia.
Q: I'm intrigued. Where are there resources where I can get info and help in starting a co-op?
Glad you asked. How about:
United States Federation of Worker Co-ops
TESA Collective Study Guide on Co-ops
Sustainable Economies Law Center
International Cooperative Alliance
The International Organization of Industrial & Service Cooperatives
Finance Toolkit for Worker Co-ops (from University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Here's a long conversation about co-ops.
Q: And already established businesses can become a co-op?
Yup. Here's some more resources:
Successful Cooperative Ownership Conversions
Succession Planning & Democratic Employee Ownership
Have another resource on cooperatives? Send it to us via coolcatsforchange (at) proton (dot) me
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