The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives is your national advocate; representing the interests of worker cooperatives and promoting workplace democracy with federal agencies and elected officials. In addition to acting as a voice for worker-ownership nationally, our staff and Board also support local advocacy campaigns initiated by USFWC members.

If you are USFWC member interested in organizing or are already working on a local advocacy campaign, please contact Senior Director of Government Relations Mo Manklang at policy@usworker.coop.

Endorsements: As a values-based membership organization, from time to time the USFWC endorses campaigns, initiatives, and candidates which align with the priorities of the membership. Endorsement requests may be submitted to policy@usworker.coop by USFWC Board of Directors, staff, member councils, peer networks for consideration.

What we do

Federal advocacy

Advancing government relations and legislation in Congress

Consulting

Working with regional grassroots organizations to advise on state and local initiatives

Priority-setting

Working with members to understand the challenges for worker-owned small businesses, host discussions, and articulate priorities.
Training/Education

Hosting and curating advocacy trainings, creating accessible tools for members to track initiatives and advocate.

Three ways to get involved

Join the USFWC's Policy and Advocacy member council to plug into this work and advance worker ownership and workplace democracy through public policy efforts and advocacy campaigns. This members-only council meets monthly to strategize and share information about local, state, and federal efforts. See the events calendar to confirm the next date and time. Contact Mo Manklang policy@usworker.coop to get involved.

Connect with your elected officials.
Send a letter of support for worker cooperatives. Reach out to policy@usworker.coop for help in creating your letter.

Invite your representative to join the Congressional Cooperative Business Caucus, which provides a opportunity for greater visibility of cooperative economic impact before Congress and the Administration and driving a co-op-friendly legislative agenda.

⚠️ Advocacy Alerts ⚠️

Up-to-date notices on government relation matters that affect USFWC members and businesses:

Federal funding freezes that may affect many of our nonprofit members are on hold, with the exception of USAID funds.

The Corporate Transparency Act is back in effect with a new deadline of March 21, 2025. Legislation is moving through Congress that may affect filing deadlines. last updated 2/19/2025.

Shining a light on the importance of cooperatives is crucial now. One way of raising the profile of cooperatives in your city or state is to encourage your representatives to introduce a resolution declaring 2025 as the year of the cooperative, in tandem with the International Year of the Cooperative resolution from the United Nations. Email policy@usworker.coop if you are interested is spearheading this effort in your region.

 

Worker Co-op Advocacy News

Download our Advocacy Infosheet

This resource gives an overview of the worker cooperative model, highlighting important data and statistics about worker co-ops and democratic businesses.

Digital  |  Print

 

Action Center

Supporting worker co-op advocacy campaigns across the country can be simple. Find more ways to get engaged below - most actions take less than 5 minutes!