PRESENTATION: Unions & Co-ops: a Webinar Series
It’s Time to Talk About Unions
The last couple of years have seen some high profile efforts of workers to unionize. Amazon workers in Alabama and New York will hold union votes in the last week of March. Starbucks employees in over 100 locations and 19 states have taken steps to unionize. Even workers at beloved consumer co-op REI have overwhelmingly voted to unionize at a New York based store!
So, can co-ops even have unions? What kinds of co-ops have unions? What is this “union co-op” term that’s been floating around? Just what does a union do, anyway? What’s the relationship between unions and co-ops and what should it be? CW is hosting a webinar series to answer all of your questions about unions, co-ops, unionized co-ops, union co-ops, and everything in between. Join us for this Spring line-up, starting Monday March 21st! Check out upcoming webinars below:
- Unions 101, Monday, March 21 at 11am PT – This is your chance to learn the basics of unions. Ask the questions you’ve always had about unions, but were too afraid to ask! Facilitated by CW member and Senior Business Advisor with the NY SBDC (not to mention a union rep at his college), Frank Cetera!
CW is a network of co-op development centers and individual practitioners. CW members work across the country and across sectors. Many CW members are recipients of USDA’s Rural Cooperative Development Grant and are working in rural areas; though a growing number are serving urban areas too. Some CW members have a deep understanding of union co-ops and union drives within consumer or producer co-ops, others do not. When the professional development committee brainstormed on topics for member training, the number one topic was more familiarity with co-ops and unions.
- #1: Unions 101 w/ Frank Cetera (en Español) – March 21 – a chance to learn the very basics about unions and ask your burning questions of a fellow CW member, presented by Frank Cetera (CW member, SBDC in upstate New York, and himself a union rep at his college).
- #2: A Union Co-op Model: Co-op Cincy at 10 Years w/ Ellen Vera
- #3: Worker Co-op Conversions in a Union Setting: A Toolkit w/ Rebecca Lurie (en Español) – Rebecca Lurie will present on A Union Toolkit for Cooperative Solutions along with case studies (this will address the delicate situation with the unionized Ithaca coffee shop and a co-op developer)
- #4: Gem City Market: A Multi-stakeholder Cooperative with a Worker-Owner Class w/ Lela Klein and Amaha Sellassie (en Español) – about the membership structure of Gem City food co-op and the co-op development process. The board converts over time from the developer to a community + majority worker board. Gem City is not unionized, but the co-op’s bylaws declare neutrality to any future union drive.
