Reflecting on the Movement: Ariana R. Levinson

[Editor's note: We'll be sharing responses to our survey asking cooperators to reflect on the last 20 years of worker cooperative development. If you'd like to share your thoughts, you can complete the survey here.]

When did you first become involved with the worker cooperative movement?

I first became interested in the worker cooperative movement as a college student in the 90s studying political economics, writing about the Swedish wage-earner funds, and traveling to Cuba with the Union of Radical Political Economics. I first became actively involved in the movement as a law professor researching worker-owned cooperatives and labor law in the late 2000s after learning of the Mondragon/Steelworkers Agreement.

What were your hopes for the worker cooperative movement at the time that you first became involved?

In the 90s, I was looking for solutions, such as unionization, that offered people economic security and participation and control at work. My experience as a teen with economic insecurity due to a parent’s job loss likely motivated my interests. In the 2000s, I was hopeful for a wide-spread movement that would be a coalition between the labor movement and the worker cooperative movement and would lead to widespread worker ownership and control over private-sector businesses of all types. I did not hope it would be the only form of business or alleviate the necessity for government, non-profits, or large unionized businesses, but did hope that it would be a significant force to change the economy to one that is more humane and sustainable. I very much hoped the movement would extend to the Mid-West and South.

In what ways have those hopes been realized? In what ways haven't they been?

My hopes have been fulfilled by watching Co-op Cincy develop from a group of four committed organizers to a network of worker-owned businesses, tightly connected with the labor movement, and able to educate hundreds during conferences and through start-up and conversion programs. Other unionized worker cooperatives also contribute to the movement for which I hoped. Among others, I follow Snow River Cooperative, Cooperative Home Care Associates, Worx Printing LLC, AlliedUp Cooperative, and A Bookkeeping Cooperative, Inc. The Old Louisville Coffee Co-op in Louisville means that I can regularly support a worker-owned co-op in my own community. That said, we still have no eco-system of worker-owned co-ops and no union co-ops in Louisville, which for me is emblematic of the Midwest and South, so in that way my hopes have not been realized.

What has your experience been with national and regional worker co-op organizations? In what ways have they been beneficial for worker co-ops?

When I began my research of worker-owned cooperatives as a law professor, GEO was the most reliable informative source and remains so to this day. I share referenced articles and videos with union and business leaders in Louisville regularly. As mentioned, DAWI has been a fantastic resource for municipalities learning to support a worker-cooperative ecosystem, and the Union Co-op Council of the USFWC has fostered significant collaboration between the labor and co-op movements. The USFWC and DAWI have also been an invaluable source of information for academic researchers and policymakers across the country. The Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing and City University of New York School of Labor and Urban Studies Community & Worker Ownership Project have also routinely brought together and educated academics, policy makers, and those from the labor and worker-cooperative movements. The Cooperative Professionals Guild consistently hosts amazing webinars that delve into the details of supporting the worker co-op movement and provide a community of support to address novel legal and organizing issues.

What would you like to see national and regional worker co-op organizations do going forward? Where do you think their focus should be?

Because I live in Louisville, my hope is that national and regional organizations would assist to set up a similar organization that services Louisville, and organizations in other similar areas that lack a worker-cooperative economy. There is no worker center, employee ownership center, or co-op technical assistance provider in Louisville. DAWI made great effort when it invited the Metro Louisville Government to participate in the SEED Fellowship, but that work was scuttled by the pandemic. (KCARD has assisted in Kentucky and can assist with discrete agricultural-related projects in Louisville.)

At this time, my belief is that the national and regional organizations should focus on conversions. Educating union leaders and members and working with small business associations to set up a local, regional, or even national early notification system of businesses that are likely to be sold or closed would help to identify businesses that remain economically viable and are most likely to benefit from educating the workers about the possibility and process of a buy-out. Having an organizational person who scours local news for alerts of business closing or sales could also be fruitful for maintaining such a system.