Our Member Councils and Peer Networks are shaping the future of the worker co-op movement in the U.S. Here are the latest highlights from some of our Councils & Networks:
- The Union Co-ops Council celebrates the REI consumer co-op workers and co-op members who worked together in solidarity to successfully reject the REI corporate appointed board of directors nominees in the recent “Vote No” campaign! The council encourages all REI co-op members to follow the REI workers union’s next call to action: send a letter to the new CEO to appoint the pro-worker candidates, Tefere Gebre and Shemona Moreno, to the Board. Learn more about this campaign victory here!
- The Policy & Advocacy Council is tracking the developing effects of federal orders, both on national resources for the worker co-op community as well as how states and cities are adjusting their support of small businesses. We’re currently advocating for WORK Act appropriation and preserving cooperative tax treatment, and promoting the International Year of the Cooperative in cities and states across the country. Join our next meeting on May 15 (special date this month!)
- The Racial and Economic Justice Council (REJC) is a space to organize, build community, and make connections between the co-op ecosystem and other movements for social justice. Are you active in other groups or organizing campaigns that you want the worker co-op world to connect to? Are you looking for ways to process and respond to the current political reality with other cooperators? Come through! Recently we have been learning about the labor organizing happening through worker centers, and how it includes worker cooperatives. Our next meeting is June 4th – you can register here. This is a bilingual space, with simultaneous interpretation in English and Spanish.
- The Immigrant Co-ops Council (MIC) is committed to building power and solidarity among our network of immigrant-led worker co-ops. It’s a space to share resources and support one another as we defend our cooperatives and our communities. Join us! The next meeting is May 15th, followed by July 17th. Meetings are conducted in Spanish. You can register through the USFWC events calendar here, or reach out to sasha@usworker.coop for more information.
- The Black Cooperator Peer Network will be having its next meeting on May 28th from 5pm ET and every fourth Wednesday of odd months. This is a space for Black people in the cooperative movement to strategize, uplift one another, and build power together. This is an opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions, exchange resources, and build relationships that strengthen our collective work. Please sign up here for the zoom link if you would like to attend!
Get involved! Check our events calendar to sign up for upcoming Member Council and Peer Network meetings.
