USFWC Member Councils are member-led groups united around collective learning and action to advance social justice within the worker cooperative movement. Each council brings member cooperators together to educate and organize around crucial issues for the worker co-op sector and create resources to build a more just and collaborative future.
Union Co-ops Council
About the Council: A member-driven council working to build bridges between worker cooperatives and organized labor. Participants meet to plan workshops at various labor and co-op conferences around the country, share information about and resources with local projects, and arrange for participants to engage in media exchanges, among other activities. Check out their website at unioncoops.org.
Meeting times: The UCC meets by Zoom call every month on the last Wednesdays at 3-4:15 pm ET.
How to Join: Members should register here for more information about joining this council or if you’re interested in getting notice of our monthly conference calls or in developing a workshop on unions and co-ops in your local area.
Policy and Advocacy Council
About the Council: A member-wide council forwarding worker ownership and worker-centered values through legislative and government relations work at federal, state, and local levels.
Meeting times: Monthly conference calls for all members are hosted on the 1st Thursday of every month at 1 pm ET for 90 minutes.
How to Join: Members can register here for the meeting as well as to receive notice of future monthly conference calls and opportunities to advocate for worker cooperatives in your local area. Contact policy [at] usworker [dot] coop with any questions. Meetings are members-only and are facilitated in English without interpretation at this time.
Movimiento de Inmigrantes en Cooperativas (MIC)
About the Council: This council is a space to organize and generate mutual support among cooperatives from the Latine immigrant community. Representatives from immigrant-led coops meet to address the needs of their businesses and their communities.
Meeting Times: This council meets the third Thursday of odd months (Jan, Mar, May, July, Sept, Nov) at 6 ET for 90 min.
How to Join: Members can email sasha [at] usworker [dot] coop for more information about this council and to be added. Meetings are members-only.
Racial and Economic Justice Council
About the Council: A member space which serves as a conduit between national worker coop networks and the communities doing grassroots economic and racial justice work rooted in racial, gender, economic, environmental, and disability justice; trans and queer liberation; and anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism.
Meeting Times: This council meets every other month, on the first Wednesday of even-numbered months, at 5:30pm ET for 90 minutes. Meetings are bilingual, with simultaneous interpretation between English and Spanish.
How to Join: Email sasha [at] usworker [dot] coop. Meetings are members-only.
International Council
About the Council: The International Council will be the USFWC membership’s forum for connecting with the international cooperative movement and advising the USFWC’s international programs. The council’s purpose is to strengthen relationships across geographies and sectors, and foster spaces to learn from and share experiences across borders and continents with the goal to expand and strengthen our cooperative movement internationally.
Currently the International Council activities are on pause. Please fill out the Member Council Interest form if you are interested in hearing updates for when the Council re-launches.