Celebrating International Workers’ Day, celebrating workers.coop

Today, May 1st, is International Workers Day – a global celebration of workers and the working classes. Who better to talk about today than workers.coop?

With the stated aim  of ‘Liberating Work’, and a belief ‘in a world where everyone has access to rewarding, meaningful and sustainable work’, workers.coop was conceived two years ago, at the Worker Co-op Weekend in May 2022. Five months later, in October 2022, the Co-operative Society was registered and work began apace.

Nineteen months after registration, today, workers.coop has firmly established itself as a part of the UK co-op scene.

It has 87 members, numerous working groups, a busy events calendar and ambitions plans – we particularly like their plans to spread the word about worker cooperation among new generations and groups of workers. In an increasingly task based work environment, with limited opportunities for personal growth and leaning, the need for a focus on workers is only increasing.

They are running the ever popular Worker Co-op Weekend in a few weeks, from May 17th to 19th in Bakewell. A recent addition to their offering is the (bookable online) “Co-op Conversations” service where people can talk through an early stage co-op idea with one of workers.coop supporters. They also have a busy online forum where members can chat, share ideas and ask questions.

Their website is packed with information and resources. There are case studies from across the co-op space demonstrating the scope of the model – Agile Collective, Fruit Works Co-op and Leading Lives covering different sectors; websites, fruit trees and social care. They outline reasons to join – from the values led to the financial. All members of workers.coop can save 50% on their membership of Co-operatives UK, and worker co-ops in start up mode can ‘pay what they can’ for two years.

Find out more about workers.coop on their website here

Explore their events calendar here

Find their resources here