New York Worker Co-operatives

New York City Council has built a successful programme for supporting the development of new worker co-operatives. Key to the success of the programme, in supporting co-operative formation in challenging circumstances, is the significant role played by community-based ‘non-profits’ in awareness raising, pre-start facilitation and capacity building within neighbourhoods and communities.

“The programme works mostly in New York’s poorer neighbourhoods, with significant numbers of minorities and migrants among those founding co-operatives” New York City Council, 2018.

A mixed cohort of ‘non-profit’ delivery partners were brought together – combining national non-profits and local co-op specific organisations. The organisations played different roles, with some focusing on community outreach and education while others provided more typical business support activities. Support was split into five distinct categories spanning worker co-op start-up, financial support, legal support and conversions to worker co-ops.

This diversity of delivery partners also helped reach the immigrant workforce, which had historically been quite active in New York City’s worker co-operative growth. Overall, the initiative was shown to have a positive impact on growing the worker co-operative sector, in which 21 worker-owned co-ops were created in its first year with over two-thirds of these still in operation after five years.

“Activity to increase awareness of interest in, and adoption of, the worker co-operative model, is plugged into wider community-led economic development activities.”