Worker Co-Operatives: Jobs for New York City's Future

The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) has written a report, Worker Cooperatives for New York City: A Vision for Addressing Income Inequality, for the purpose of educating policy makers on worker cooperatives as a viable option for addressing the continuing economic crisis in New York City. Worker cooperatives are a relatively new issue in New York City that has not received a substantial amount of attention as an economic development strategy.

FPWA promotes the social and economic well-being of greater New York’s most vulnerable by advocating for just public policies and strengthening human service organizations. Our latest report provides recommendations that the new Mayoral administration could implement to expand economic opportunities with worker cooperatives for low-income families and communities. To our knowledge, there have been no recent reports that focus on the potential of worker cooperatives in New York City.

Noting that minimum and low-wage jobs are not a strong enough combatant against poverty, this report concludes that the development of worker cooperatives in New York City should be included as part of a long- term strategy to address inequality. Organizations that support worker cooperatives exist within New York City, but must be expanded and developed.  City agencies that already work to bolster the economy should begin to offer tailored supports to developing worker cooperatives. Therefore, this report provides recommendations that the new Mayoral administration and City Council could implement to support existing worker cooperatives and encourage the advancement of more.

This half day conference will take place at FPWA located at 281 Park Avenue South, Conference Room A on January 30th, 2014 from 8:30am to 1:00pm.  The half day conference will begin at 8:30am with a breakfast and networking reception, followed by remarks from Jennifer Jones Austin and Steven Greenhouse, the official FPWA report at 9:30am, then a series of panels outlining the current status of worker cooperatives in NYC and what can be done to secure their future will run from 9:45am to 12:50pm.

Event attendance is free, though space is limited.

To RSVP for this event, follow the link above or click here.