Creating Worker Co-ops: Nuts and Bolts Guidance to Build Alternative Economies (through a working case study of Detroit!)

Worker cooperatives are a real solution for communities that have been exploited and abandoned by neoliberal economic models because they build community wealth and keep full control of their resources democratically among the people who work there. As institutions where real democracy is practiced on a day to day basis, and where real dollars are pumped back into local economies, they are a model for practicing the power we will need in order to create the change we envision.

This two-part workshop goes in-depth to support groups that are planning a new worker cooperative project or a conversion of an existing business into a worker co-op. Participants should bring their project plans to the workshop for active development and reworking. First we will provide a foundational overview by answering questions about democratic workplaces and how worker are co-ops connected to movements for economic justice, labor rights and sustainability. In the second part we will demonstrate how to create and convert businesses into worker co-ops using Detroit as a case study. Then, participants will break up into smaller groups convened by experienced worker cooperators and co-op developers to work through their plans and further develop them.