Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has slashed federal spending. We estimate that $30-$50 million in funding for cooperative development has been cut so far this year.
The full ripple effect is still unfolding. But one thing is clear: our movement to build shared well-being through worker-ownership and democratic control is under threat.
The U.N. has declared 2025 the International Year of Cooperatives, offering us a rare opening: the power of global attention. Will you help us seize it?
Last month, I had the honor of representing our global cooperative movement—3 million co-ops and credit unions with 1.2 billion members—at the United Nations. I laid out a strategy for how we can come together through this moment to demonstrate how cooperatives are a better business model, solving regional, national, and global problems.
At a time of vast political uncertainty and economic volatility, the world is searching for models of economic and democratic renewal. Cooperatives offer a path forward.
Together, we can harness this moment to:
– Advocate to defend and expand cooperative policy
– Invest in the institutions that sustain our movement
– Strengthen the connections that bind us
With dues-paying members as our foundation, the USFWC is already putting this power-building strategy into action. We are:
– Mobilizing cities to declare 2025 the Year of the Co-ops and grow their support for worker co-ops
– Gathering national data through the worker co-op census, in partnership with the Democracy at Work Institute, to strengthen advocacy for local and state funding
– Practicing solidarity through our dues solidarity program, where members who have had a strong year help cover the dues of fellow members facing financial challenges
