Dear USFWC members,
Thank you so much for being a member of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. As our team takes a break to celebrate the holidays, we are reflecting on everything the federation achieved this year.
From expanding member benefits to launching transformative programs for cooperative leaders of color, here are some of the key ways you helped us build collective power in 2024.
Growing Our Membership:
- For the first time, we surpassed 400 members with 68 new organizations joining this year!
Worker Benefits:
- Provided access to dental and vision insurance benefits to nearly 800 individuals across 67 member organizations.
- Expanded our program to offer retirement plans through a partnership with Just Futures. In just the first months of this partnership we have already provided access to retirement benefits for half a dozen member organizations. In that time we also worked with several other members to lay groundwork for them to offer their workers retirement plans next year.
2024 Peer Advisory Fellows
Technical Assistance and Training for Worker Co-ops:
- Provided expert support to 300 clients (many of whom became USFWC members along the way) through our Co-op Clinic and our growing network of peer technical assistance advisors.
- Launched a fellowship for worker-owners of color in response to a growing need for technical assistance for and by communities of color. We trained ten Black, Indigenous, and other co-op leaders of color from around the U.S. in a fellowship cohort this year. The fellowship builds essential skills, tools, and support systems for peer advisors to be effective within their communities and also serve the broader worker-owned co-op field.
A moment of connection at the 2024 Worker Co-op Conference
Building Connections Across Co-ops:
- With our sister organization Democracy At Work Institute, we brought together over 600 worker-owners and movement builders at the 2024 Worker Co-op Conference, our largest national conference yet!
- Convened over 1,800 people in online events, providing networking opportunities to share stories and best practices for building workplace democracy.
Support the worker co-op movement in 2025
Engaging Member Leadership:
- You, our members, elected new board members Adrian Roman of Colmenar Consulting and Evelyn Torres of Radiate Consulting NYC.
- Four new co-chairs in the Movimientos de Inmigrantes Cooperativistas (MIC) Council and Racial & Economic Justice Council (REJC) served as member leaders in Council spaces.
- We rotated in new leadership in the Union Co-ops Council (UCC) executive committee.
Assistant Secretary of Labor Lisa Gomez (third from right) poses with worker co-op advocates at the 2024 Worker Co-op Conference.
Policy Advancements:
- Worked closely with the Department of Labor, including a department-wide educational session with Democracy At Work Institute and department representation at this year’s national conference. Asst. Secretary of Labor Lisa Gomez spoke at the conference and championed the worker co-op model!
- Participated in and ensured member representation at the first White House Convening on Worker Ownership last July.
- Organized members around the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) to amplify, address challenges, and connect the worker co-op community with resources to understand the program. Our CTA resources hub is regularly referenced and accessed by federation members and partners alike.
- Worked with Congressman Ro Khanna to introduce the National Worker Co-op Development and Support Act. It became the first worker co-op-specific legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives!
We are humbled and inspired by the collective power of this community. These achievements are only possible because of the support of members like you. We’re excited to continue building the power of worker-ownership into 2025 and beyond with your support.
Help us celebrate even greater wins in 2025
What’s On Your Mind
As our co-ops and organizations wind down the year and start to plan for 2025 and the potential impacts of the new presidential administration, we’d like to hear from you. We’d love to know:
- What are your biggest concerns for the coming year?
- How are you preparing?
- What organizing and mobilizing are you and your co-op doing?
Our staff is hard at work behind the scenes gathering resources, preparing Know Your Rights trainings (keep an eye out for the announcement in January) and discussing where to go next with our Membership Councils. Please email membership [at] usworker [dot] coop or give our Membership Manager, Kate Barut, a call at 415-392-7277, Extension 2, to share what’s on your co-op’s mind!
In cooperation,
U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives
