Is there really a “worker shortage,” or are frontline workers just tired of risking their lives for substandard pay, protections, and benefits? During the COVID-19 pandemic, worker co-ops demonstrated that it’s possible to run a successful business while still prioritizing the safety and input of workers over profits.

We speak with worker-owners at 8 co-ops in 4 states about the unique benefits, struggles, and limitations of of the worker cooperative model. In the words of Kimberly Britt, a worker-owner at ChiFresh Kitchen, “We work at and own this company, and we designed it to work for us, what would make it not feel like a job.”

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

• Chad Crouch, “Little Brown Bird”
• Chad Crouch, “Complex Structure”
• Chad Crouch, “Backwater”
• Chad Crouch, “Blue Heron”
• Chad Crouch, “House Finch”

Interested in democratic workplaces? Check out our complete coverage from The Real News’ Jaisal Noor of how worker cooperatives rose to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Worker cooperatives prove your job doesn’t have to be hell

by Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network
May 26, 2021

<h1>Worker cooperatives prove your job doesn’t have to be hell</h1> <p class="byline">by Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network <br />May 26, 2021</p> <br /> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTSfq3CGX0g </div> </figure> <p>Is there really a “worker shortage,” or are frontline workers just tired of risking their lives for substandard pay, protections, and benefits? During the COVID-19 pandemic, worker co-ops demonstrated that it’s possible to run a successful business while still prioritizing the safety and input of workers over profits.</p> <p>We speak with worker-owners at 8 co-ops in 4 states about the unique benefits, struggles, and limitations of of the worker cooperative model. In the words of Kimberly Britt, a worker-owner at ChiFresh Kitchen, “We work at and own this company, and we designed it to work for us, what would make it not feel like a job.”</p> <p><strong>Featured</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Music</strong>&nbsp;<strong>(all</strong>&nbsp;<strong>songs</strong>&nbsp;<strong>sourced</strong>&nbsp;<strong>from</strong>&nbsp;<strong>the</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Free</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Music</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Archive:</strong>&nbsp;<a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>freemusicarchive.org</strong></a><strong>)</strong></p> <ul> <li>Chad Crouch, "Little Brown Bird"</li> <li>Chad Crouch, "Complex Structure"</li> <li>Chad Crouch, "Backwater"</li> <li>Chad Crouch, "Blue Heron"</li> <li>Chad Crouch, "House Finch"</li> </ul> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://therealnews.com/worker-cooperatives-prove-your-job-doesnt-have-to-be-hell">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://therealnews.com">The Real News Network</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/therealnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/cropped-TRNN-2021-logomark-square.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://therealnews.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=271950&amp;ga4=G-7LYS8R7V51" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p> Copy to Clipboard

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