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16 - A New Generation of Worker Cooperatives

from Part IV - Enterprise

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 April 2024

By
Joan S. M. Meyers ,
Sanjay Pinto ,
Laura Hanson Schlachter  and
Olga Prushinskaya
Edited by
Brian D. Christens
Brian D. Christens
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
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Summary

Worker cooperatives – enterprises owned and operated by their employees – offer the potential for workplace socioeconomic empowerment. Historically they have struggled to capture a significant share of employment in the US and to be fully inclusive of communities confronting the greatest social and economic marginalization. Since the Great Recession, however, worker cooperatives have shown strong growth, with increasing representation from BIPOC, working-class, and immigrant communities. This chapter compares two home care worker cooperatives to discuss the benefits that worker cooperatives bring and some of the challenges they face. One, Golden Steps, operates at the small scale typical of most of the newer worker cooperatives, while the other, Cooperative Home Care Associates, is currently the largest worker cooperative in the US. Focusing on the financial, social, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and labor dimensions of worker cooperatives, we consider the important role of worker ownership and control within broader discussions of individual and community empowerment.

Keywords

care workdiversity, equity, and inclusionsolidarity economyworker cooperativesworker ownershipworkplace democracy
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Community Empowerment , pp. 415 - 437
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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