Support Organizations

NEWS FLASH: CICOPA North America was formed in Quebec

jim — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:28:57 -0400

Last night, CICOPA North America was formed in Quebec at the first ever North American Worker Cooperative Conference!

Also at the opening of the conference last night, it was announced that US Federation of Worker Cooperatives President Rebecca Kemble (member of Union Cab of Madison Cooperative) has been named President of CICOPA North America! In serving as president, Rebecca also fills the positions of Vice President of CICOPA of the Americas, and member of the Executive Committee of CICOPA.

Jessica Gordon-Nembhard and Jim Johnson are at the conference representing GEO (among other of our affiliations). We will try to do more blogging through the remainder of the conference.

Working Together to Achieve Economic Success: Argentine printing cooperatives transform social networks into economic ones

jim — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 17:07:20 -0500

Permanent link to this article: http://geo.coop/node/585

By Traci Kuratomi, current Fulbright Fellow in Argentina

In 2001, Argentina was devastated by an economic crisis that led to widespread deindustrialization and unemployment levels of 21 percent. As factories closed, thousands of people suddenly found themselves jobless and without the possibility of finding work. Worse, the factory owners who declared bankruptcy often owed their workers months of wages and failed to provide workers severance pay.

Education Into Action: Reflections on the Eastern Workplace Democracy Conference

jim — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:56:33 -0400

Permanent link to this article: http://geo.coop/node/440

By Aaron Dawson, Equal Exchange

In reflecting back to the 2009 Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy, what impresses me the most is how much more action it has generated since the meeting! This is exciting to me as I have been to five worker co-op conferences and this is the first time that I feel so much movement is happening on so many levels.

Austin: A New Cooperative Development Center

jim — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:52:47 -0500

Third Coast Workers Cooperative (TCWC) is an new cooperative development center in Austin that works with low-income communities to help them produce their own environmentally friendly, worker-owned businesses.

Regional Alliance of Worker Co-ops to Publish a Movement Book

jim — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:46:22 -0500

Permanent link to this article: http://geo.coop/node/410

by Michael Johnson, GEO Collective

Tuesday November 3 marked a milestone for the book project of the Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives (VAWC). Food for Thought Books, a 33-year collective and member of VAWC, hosted an advance book sale for CO-OP VALLEY! THE WORKER COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY. They organized the event to help finance the writing and publishing of the book.

Our purpose in publishing this book is three-fold:

The Replication of Arizmendi Bakery: A Model of the Democratic Worker Cooperative Movement

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:41:08 -0400

By Joe Marraffino, Arizmendi Development and Support Cooperative

Since the mid-1990s a group of worker cooperative organizers in the San Francisco Bay Area has been developing a new model for cooperative development. Our organization, the Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives, is a network, incubator, and technical assistance provider that is owned, governed, and funded by the member workplaces it creates and serves. Our primary activity is to replicate and offer continuing support to new retail bakeries based on a proven cooperative business model.

Co-ops Unite to Support Worker-Ownership in Home Care

Ethan — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:17:11 -0400

by Jim Johnson, GEO Collective

Past issues of GEO have reported on the emergence of a particular type of worker cooperative, the home care cooperative. In the 1980s, the federal government followed the lead of state governments like Wisconsin and acknowledged that elderly and disabled people who need help in day-to-day living are best served by in-home assistance. Medicare and Medicaid funding that would have otherwise been used only for nursing homes would now be applicable to home care services. With "the gray tsunami" of aging baby boomers looming, demand is only going to increase for the next few decades.

Ecopalooza Green Events Network

EcoLarry — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:23:21 -0400

Ecopalooza is a web portal and event calendar for the promotion of green living expos, fairs, festivals, conferences, workshops and other sustainability events throughout North America. Ecopalooza website is a project of Ecopalooza Green Events Network, which also sponsors occasional green events in the Redwood North Coast bioregion of Northern California. The primary focus of Ecopalooza's networking activity is is on the bioregional, plant-based diet and youth aspects of the sustainability revolution.

Worker Co-ops and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives

Ethan — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:42:35 -0500

By John Zippert, Federation of Souther Cooperatives

From August 16-18, 2007, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund will celebrate its fortieth (40th) anniversary and Annual Meeting. Growing from 22 cooperatives and credit unions organized by SNCC, CORE, SCLC and other civil rights organizations in the South in the 1960's, the Federation has worked with thousands of Black farmers and other low income rural folks over the past four decades.