GEO Forum on Cross-Organizational Collaboration:
If Not Now, When?

This forum is intended as a democratic exercise, providing access to the diverse (and extraordinary) voices of ordinary people, and gathering these voices together around a single issue of common concern, so that they, and the rest of us, can listen to and learn from one another. In this case, with the USFWC 2006 Conference reaching out in many directions―to cooperatives of course, but as well to potential or natural allies of workplace democracy―we selected as our forum question, "How might worker cooperatives connect and collaborate more fully with the wider social justice and other progressive movements?" Responses were sought from a variety of people, ranging from worker coop veterans to people new to workplace democracy and, as well, from those outside of, but hopefully allied with, worker cooperatives.

Beyond this printed selection of responses, we have decided the keep the road of this democratic forum open beyond this single issue of GEO in two different ways:

• Inviting readers to submit their thoughts on this question (keep them concise, around 500 words if possible) to: <editors@geo.coop>.

• Convening a workshop at the upcoming USFWC Conference to focus more attention on why, when, and how collaboration with groups outside the cooperative community might be beneficial. We invite you to join us there. Watch for the exact time and place on the web page: www.usworker.coop.

- Eds.