Gleanings

Last fall, Colombia native Luis Eduardo Lozano and four other immigrant day laborers, tired of the indignities of scant, irregular hours and wage theft from employers, formalized the PWA Handymen Cooperative in Philadelphia. Now the worker-owned LLC offers residential and commercial interior and exterior renovation services.

Link: 
Worker Co-ops Catch on in Philadelphia

This book uses historical and anthropological examples to show that people have, in different ways and at different times, demonstrated mutual aid, self-organization, autonomy, and horizontal decision making—that anarchy works!

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Link: 
Anarchy Works - Peter Gelderloos

Tucked into the omnibus National Defense Authorization Act signed by President Trump in August 2018 was language directing the U.S. Small Business Administration to help retiring owners sell their businesses to their employees, either as a worker cooperative or as an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

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A Boost for the Worker-Owned Economy

“The cooperative provides long-term security for me and is meeting such a vital community need,” says Rosen. “I don’t need to be rich, but to go out for a slice of pie or buy a new outfit once in a while, that’s nice. We’re moving toward a livable wage now. I don’t worry as much.”

Link: 
Harnessing the Cooperative Model to Create Quality Jobs for Aging Workers

From August 21 to September 9, prisoners in 17 states went on strike to protest inhuman living and working conditions and to promote ten basic demands. Although the formal strike is over, some prisoners are being retaliated against and others are continuing to strike. We speak with Amani Sawari, a prisoner’s rights activist, about the strike, the demands and how we can all provide support to finally end legalized slavery in the United States.

 

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THE NATIONAL PRISON STRIKE ISN’T OVER

The rise of loneliness worldwide, the centrality of real estate speculation for global economic growth, and the breakdown of many large-scale factories that helped to bring workers together mean that we have to rethink the ways we demand change.

We can build community and force elites to listen to our demands at the same time. Radical municipalism is a project to take direct democratic control over the places where we live.

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How radical municipalism can go beyond the local

From the 1970s -1990s there was an increased interest in working co-operatively, with a huge wave of workers’ co-operatives set up across the UK.

Link: 
Workers’ Co-operatives 1970s-1990s

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