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Our Member Councils and Peer Networks are shaping the future of the worker co-op movement in the U.S. through offers and needs markets, collective education & learning and political advocacy for a worker-centered economy. Here are the highlights for this month from some of our Councils & Networks:
- Union Co-ops Council – Union co-ops were front and center at the first Building Worker Power conference hosted in Amherst this March, which featured powerful workshops, storytelling, projects, strategies, and visioning for where our shared labor movement is going. USFWC members organized the conference and led sessions, including the Wellspring Cooperative, Cooperation Jackson, Worx Printing, White Electric Coffee, Collective Copies, among many others.
At the upcoming Union Co-ops Council meeting, we’ll hear from a collaboration of cooperative developers, labor advocates, researchers, and racial justice practitioners that just launched a new set of open-source online tools for anti-racist union co-op development, which centers the importance of our inner and collective work toward anti-oppression with specific activities and tools. Sign up here! (Public UCC meetings occur on the 2nd Fridays of even months at 1pm ET.) - Policy & Advocacy Council – The Policy and Advocacy Council hosted a deep dive conversation on State Advocacy initiatives, with speakers from NY, MA, WA, PA, and CA. Next month, the council will dig into our advocacy toolkit – members can sign up here to attend.
- International Council – The International Council held its second official meeting of its Executive Committee and is looking forward to recruiting members at the Spring Membership Meeting. Register here for the meeting.
During the second half of 2023, the council will be hosting a short webinar series about the international cooperative ecosystem. Be on the lookout for an invitation in future member emails! - Racial & Economic Justice Council – Later this year, we will be re-launching the Racial & Economic Justice Council. This will be a space for members to come together and share issues they are working on and organize with each other – learn more at the USFWC Spring Member Meeting May 24th.
- Movimiento de Inmigrantes en las Cooperativas – We are re-launching MIC this year! If you are interested in joining Movimiento para Immigrantes Cooperativistas, a leadership and movement building space for Spanish speaking immigrant worker-owners, please email us at membership@usworker.coop and register here for the Spring Member Meeting on May 24th.
- Co-op Booksellers Peer Network – The co-op booksellers chat and learn from each other on the first Friday of each month at 4pm ET. Involved in a co-op bookstore or want to start one? Join us!
- Tech Worker Co-ops Peer Network – The Tech Peer Network is adopting an updated template agenda to focus some time every meeting on advocacy, emerging issues in the field, and supporting each other’s work. It’s a great time for new tech worker co-ops to join!
- Federation Partners Peer Network – At the Federation Partners next meeting on Thursday April 27th, the group will be focusing on cooperative ecosystem assessments, or the elements for thriving co-op development.
- Co-op Academies Peer Network – Stay tuned! The next co-op academies meeting will be on Monday May 22nd at 3:30pm ET.
Members, be sure to register for our USFWC Virtual Spring Member Meeting May 24th to hear more from your Member Councils and help shape their future work!
