There have been numerous tributes to Pat Conaty, one of our founder members, who passed away earlier this autumn.
Pat was a prolific co-op activist, researcher and author, and is sadly missed.
You can see some of them here:-

The co-op is now 5 years old, and has grown to be the 10th largest ground transport company in New York after just one year. It’s bigger still now.

Read the articles here: https://forgeorganizing.org/?s=drivers+coop&article_tag=&author_id=19002

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of one of our founder members, Pat Conaty.

Pat was a researcher with a portfolio of dozens of works over many decades, all focussed on building a more co-operative, mutual, human focussed world.

He contributed to our first Manifesto for Decent Work and to Not Alone and Working Together which are available on this website.

The co-operative movement will miss you, Pat.

The US based union co-ops council has released a new film about the union-coop movement in the USA.
Watch it here:-

A new film explaining the benefits of member ownership was released recently by Cooperatives UK. It covers all kinds of co-operative forms, including worker co-ops.
Watch it here:-

Our academic colleagues have launched a new piece of research into the UK union-coop movement, and the links between Trade Unions and Worker Co-ops.

Miguel Martinez Lucio, the lead author, together with his colleagues Anita Mangan, Mick McKeown and Cilla Ross spoke at the event at Friends Meeting House in Manchester.

Our thanks go to the BFAWU branch at Suma Wholefoods, the larges worker co-op in the UK, who provided the refreshments.

Co-operatives and Trade Unions Martinez Lucio et al. 2025

Join us in Manchester on October 23rd at 5.00pm at Friends’ Meeting House, 6 Mount St, Manchester, M2 5NS for the launch of this recent report from our colleagues.

All welcome, but booking essential

Light refreshments will be available thanks to the SUMA Wholefoods branch of the BFAWU

For the first time we’re having a stand at the Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival. We’d be delighted to see you there at our stand in the Martyrs Marquee on Saturday and Sunday 19th/20th July

We’ll be launching our revised Manifesto, with printed copies, and our new lapel badge will be available (donations please).

Download the Manifesto here: union-coops-uk Manifesto 2025

‘Harlan County’ and ‘American Dream’ – Free Online Screening until May 20th

Oscar-Winning ‘Harlan County’ and ‘American Dream’ Screen Virtually In Honor of May Day Free and On Demand Now Thru May 20th (Tues, 10PM ET) Watch Page Share: bit.ly/WatchWUFF14 These classic films from Barbara Kopple document two memorable and heartbreaking strikes – one between coal miners in the 1970s and the Duke Power company, who refused to recognize their union, and another among workers at Hormel Foods in the 1980s after their wages and benefits were cut. Harlan County USA unflinchingly documents a grueling coal miners’ strike in a small Kentucky town. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners’ sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. Featuring a haunting soundtrack – with legendary country and bluegrass artists Hazel Dickens, Merle Travis, Sarah Gunning, and Florence Reece – the film is a heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line. (103 min, 1976, Director: Barbara Kopple) (Trailer) American Dream – “The people in this film are so real they make most movie characters look like inhabitants of the funny page. Families are torn apart. One brother goes back to work, another stays on the picket lines. Workers have tears in their eyes as they describe not being able to support their families. It becomes clear that no possible win by the members of P-9 could compensate them for the wages they have already lost – especially as they are striking, not for a raise, but against a pay cut. A nobility creeps onto the scene, as people make enormous financial and personal sacrifices simply for what they believe is morally right. Our hearts are torn, because on the basis of this film we are not sure they have chosen the wisest path. […] Is there a lesson at the end of “American Dream”? I think there is. I think the lesson is that the American tradition of collective bargaining will break down if companies can simply ignore a legal strike, hire replacements, and continue as before. There was a time in American history when such behavior by management would have been seen as not only illegal but immoral. The new management philosophers who won ascendency in the 1980s dismiss such views as sentimentalism. They are concerned only with the bottom line, where they see profits, not people.” – Roger Ebert (98 min, 1990, Directors: Barbara Kopple, Cathy Caplan, and Thomas Haneke) (Trailer) Make A Donation to Support These Screenings Watch Page Fight for Democracy To watch, all you need is a free login on Eventive (you’ll be prompted when getting a ticket). Once adding a film to your account, you can also choose to watch on your TV by downloading the “Eventive TV” app. May virtual screenings are sponsored in part by the DC Labor Film Fest and the Global Film Festival Network.   Watch Page

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As the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) celebrates its twentieth anniversary in 2024, July marks seventeen years since the founding of its oldest member council – the Union Co-ops Council. Established to bridge worker cooperatives and organized labor, the Council has become a crucial player in both movements, fueled by the resurgence of unions and worker co-ops throughout the beginning of the 21st century. Just as the USFWC concludes its first twenty years with renewed energy, ambition, and capacity, the Union Co-op Council also reflects on its successes and sets a clear path forward to advance worker ownership and power.

Formation

The Union Co-ops Council was conceived at the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy (ECWD) in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2007, when a group of organizers came together to address the divide between unions and worker cooperatives. Early co-directors Mary Hoyer and Lis Ryder, experienced in both unions and worker cooperatives, noticed a lack of networking between these movements.

Read the full blog article at: https://geo.coop/articles/union-co-ops-council-seventeen-years-forging-worker-alliances