usfwc
#ShopCoop this Holiday Season
This holiday season, buy gifts for friends and loved ones from cooperatives! Whether you purchase a product or a service, cooperatives offer and deliver great quality while being owned by […]
Read More >2020 Cooperative and Cooperative of the Year Recognitions
Every year, we celebrate members of the USFWC. 2020 had no shortage of challenges and USFWC family rose to the challenge. From starting new cooperatives to meet new and urgent […]
Read More >Watch the Recording: USFWC October Membership Meeting
At our October membership meeting, we reviewed our financial health, reported on the growth of our membership, projected to 2021 policy work, and recognized members who, in the face of […]
Read More >Vote for your 2020 Regional Representative of the USFWC Board
USFWC members, your nominations for Regional Representatives to the USFWC board are in! Now it’s time to vote. Click here to meet the board candidates and hear their candidacy statements. […]
Read More >This Co-op Month: We Shape Democracy
This year has been unprecedented in many ways. The November election results at local and national levels will have grand implications for all – for co-ops and for our communities. Challenging times call on us to use our gifts for the wellbeing of our communities. One of the gifts of cooperation is our ability to practice democracy. As cooperators, we know that democracy is much more than voting. It is a field that needs tending to, before, during, and after harvest. It must be maintained and co-created.
Co-ops shape democracy every day in the workplace. Through collective decision-making, elections, education, training, and community building, we have learned to shape governance in our livelihoods. Now it’s time to help shape a more inclusive, equitable and diverse democracy in our communities, in our cities, in our states, and in the country.
Why should co-ops participate in voter registration and turnout for the November elections locally and nationally?
- About 30% of eligible voters are not registered to vote, but, according to polling data, they would register if asked or reminded.
- Due to the COVID pandemic, voter registration rates have dropped, there is a shortage of polling workers and polling places, and mail in voting is under-resourced.
- While the second cooperative principle calls for democratic control, the seventh democratic principle calls for community concern. This is a time that, in the words of Maurice Mitchell at The Worker Co-op Conference, calls for “all hands.” It calls for all votes.
Throughout the month, we’re going to be featuring interviews with cooperators and movement leaders on lessons on democratic practices from the cooperative movement.
#COOPSVOTE
Co-ops play a central role in the community and, especially during a pandemic, are uniquely positioned to: help people register to vote, act as a conduit of critical voting information, and help people make a plan to vote.
The USFWC and DAWI have partnered with NRECA, Vote.coop, NCBA CLUSA, and National Voter Registration Day to help cooperators and those we serve get registered to vote and get out the vote in November.
After Registering to Vote, get #VoteReady with this toolkit, including information on:
- Healthy voting amid COVID
- What’s on the ballot in your community
- Voting by mail
- Earliest possible dates & deadlines
- Requesting your mail-in ballot
- Know if you can track your ballot once you’ve sent it in
- Voting in person
- Polling locations
- Proper ID’s
- Help other vote
- Serve as a poll worker
- Sign up to be an election protection volunteer
- Save and share the number for the election protection hotline in several languages
Want to help get your whole community ready to vote?
- Help recruit poll workers via Power the Polls and the National Poll Worker Recruitment Day of Action (September 1)
- Become a National Voter Education Week partner (October 5-9):
- Become a Vote Early Day partner (October 24):
- For nonprofit organizations: participate in Nonprofit VOTE’s digital activation calendar “Nonprofits Countdown to the Elections”
Enrollment for the USFWC Worker Benefits Program is now open
The USFWC Worker Benefits Program has officially opened for enrollment! December 9th is the deadline for your workplace to enroll. You do not need to be a worker co-op […]
Read More >Rest in Power, Elandria Williams
Photo Credit to the New Economy Coalition. Rest in Power, Elandria Williams The cooperative community has lost a tremendous spirit this week with the passing of Elandria Williams, a visionary […]
Read More >A new overview of the history of co-operation
A Global History of Co-operative Business, Greg Patmore and Nikola Balnave, (Routledge, 2018) This valuable new history of the global co-operative movement charts its rise and its evolution – and […]
Read More >Boston’s Newest Brewery Serves Pizza Bagels With a Side of Democracy
Democracy Brewing, a worker-owned brewery, fittingly introduced itself to Boston on July 4, opening in the longtime Windsor Button space at 35 Temple Pl. in Downtown Crossing. At the brewery, […]
Read More >Worker Cooperatives Are Finding Investors Who Share Their Values
You may know Equal Exchange by the food company’s signature bright red logo on its coffee, tea, or chocolate bars. You may know they sell only certified fair-trade products, ensuring […]
Read More >Organizing Our Economy as if We Lived on a Single Planet: A Conversation with Douglas Rushkoff
Editors’ note: Douglas Rushkoff is a writer, documentarian, and lecturer, whose work focuses on human autonomy in a digital age. He is the author of more than a dozen bestselling […]
Read More >Why Building a More Democratic Economy Matters for Nonprofits
Editor’s Note: Next week, NPQ will run a series of four articles, taken from the Summer 2018 issue of Nonprofit Quarterly magazine, on how to build a more democratic economy. This […]
Read More >Esteban Kelly featured on The Next System Podcast
We’re so excited to share this episode of The Next System podcast, where Esteban is featured in conversation with Adam Simpson of the Democracy Collaborative. Check out the full episode […]
Read More >Solar design and installation company empowers employees to be owners
PV Squared in Greenfield, Massachusetts, was born out of a desire to create sustainable renewable energy jobs for the displaced workforce in Franklin County. “Our founders saw a lot of […]
Read More >A Business Model that Brings Jobs and Wealth-Building to Local Communities
At OFN’s 7th annual Small Business Finance Forum, more than 500 mission-driven small business lenders and partners gathered in Chicago to learn best practices, address challenges, and network with peers. The […]
Read More >Expanding Economic Opportunity by Growing Worker Cooperatives
The worker cooperative—a democratic form of business ownership—has struggled to take hold and grow to scale in the US. Though the US economy has a large cooperative sector, most of these co-ops […]
Read More >Making a difference: Social care from Australia’s Co-operative Life
Co-operative Life is Australia’s first worker-owned social care co-op – and it is making a vital difference to its sector by empowering employees. There are over 2,000 aged care service […]
Read More >The WWCC and ECWD have found a new home! ¡La WWCC y la ECWD han encontrado un nuevo hogar!
We are very excited to announce that the Western Worker Co-op Conference (WWCC) and Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy (ECWD) have each become a program of the US Federation of […]
Read More >Solar Design and Installation Company Empowers Employees to Be Owners
PV Squared, located in Greenfield, Massachusetts, was born out of a desire to create sustainable renewable energy jobs for the displaced workforce in Franklin County. “Our founders saw a lot […]
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