The Latest News From Canada's Worker Co-op Sector
July 2019 Volume 11 Issue 6
In This Issue
·       CWCF Conference 2019: More on Keynote Speaker Hannah Martin
·       CWCF Conference 2019: Registration Now Open!
·      Report from the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council AGM
·      Glitter Bean Cafe Offers Safe Space for Halifax's Queer Community
·      Co-ops Benefit from Technical Assistance Grants
·     Report of Bologna Tour 2019
·      Noam Chomsky Video a Highlight of Worker Co-op Summit
·      Worker Cooperatives: More Resiliency, Productivity, and Equality
·       The Restaurant Owners Fighting Systems That Allow Abuse to Persist
·      Not Your Grandparents' Franchise: A Network to Scale up Worker Ownership

CWCF Conference 2019: More on Keynote Speaker Hannah Martin
Hannah Katli’n Martin is a Mi’kmaw woman from the traditional, unceded territory of Taqamiju’jk (Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia) Mi’kma’ki (territory of the Mi’kmaq) and is a member of the Millbrook First Nation community.

CWCF Conference 2019: Registration Now Open!
Registration is now open for " Building Resilient Communities – Ecology, Equality, and Workplace Democracy".
Don't miss your chance to learn (and share) how  by following sustainable practices and/or working directly in the green economy as well as building equality and democracy in the workplace,worker co-ops can help transform our world to a better economy, society, and environment for everyone.


For more information about our conference, including registration details and the program, click here.
Report from the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council AGM
The overall tone of the AGM was celebratory, given that NSCC is marking its 70 th year. Jeff Yuill presided over the meeting.
Remarks were offered by two partners: John Harvie (the Cooperators) and Mike Leonard (Atlantic Central & League Savings). Mike noted that for the fifth year in a row, more people are joining credit unions.

Glitter Bean Cafe Offers Safe Space for Halifax's Queer Community
Queer spaces are scarce in Halifax these days, and until recently, queer-owned worker co-ops were non-existent there. And then along came Glitter Bean Cafe, which while still in its infancy, has succeeded by being both.

Co-ops Benefit from Technical Assistance Grants
Two co-ops that were recently awarded grants through CWCF’s Technical Assistance program greatly appreciated the help they received and would recommend the program to others.

Report of Bologna Tour 2019
By Chris Nichols

From May 26 to June 7, 2019, I had the immense privilege of attending a Vancity-sponsored tour of the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. Vancity, as a financial-services cooperative – or credit union as it is more commonly called – has been organizing this tour since 2003.

Noam Chomsky Video a Highlight of Worker Co-op Summit
Noam Chomsky appeared via pre-recorded video at the Worker Co-op Summit in Quebec City in June. For those who missed it, the video is available on YouTube. Chomsky spoke knowledgeably about Mondragon, and the role of the Industrial Workers of the World in the early part of the Industrial Revolution during which this union advocated for workers to own the factories that employed them. His advice in our times, all the while understanding that there will be pushback, is to organize and agitate to seek to have workplace democracy more known. 

Worker Cooperatives: More Resilience, Productivity, and Equality
By Judy Paul

Quickly. Can you name five cooperatives? La Siembra Cooperative sells delicious Fair Trade chocolate bars, my bank is the Waterloo Education Credit Union and I buy outdoor equipment at Mountain Equipment Co-op . Over 20 organizations are part of the Haliburton County Community Co-operative and Huntsville recently launched the Muskoka North Good Food Co-op . How did you do with your list?

How Co-op Accelerators and Incubators Are Supercharging a Worker-Owned Economy
In southern Oregon, Annie Hoy was about to head to the third training session for entrants in her contest for startups – but she wasn’t sure if she’d reach her goal of five applicants by the mid-August deadline.

The Restaurant Owners Fighting Systems That Allow Abuse to Persist
First-time visitors to 1149 South Ninth Street have been a bit confused of late: Depending on the day and time, the space might house a pop-up brunch or an art show, straddling definitions of a restaurant, events space, and art gallery. It’s actually all of those things, in what once was the home of El Compadre, the sibling restaurant to famous Philadelphia Mexican restaurant South Philly Barbacoa. But most crucially, 1149 is a worker-owned cooperative , and it’s precisely this ownership model that allows the space to be a restaurant, gallery, community space, and more.

Not Your Grandparents' Franchise: A Network to Scale-Up Worker Ownership
On a typical day, Araceli Dominguez, 41, wakes up at 6 a.m., and makes lunches for her two daughters, her husband, and herself. Then she departs from her Staten Island home for work, cleaning homes and offices in other parts of the city. It takes an hour and a half to get to her usual first daily client, taking public transit across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Brooklyn.

The Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation (CWCF) is a national, bilingual grassroots membership organization of and for worker co-operatives, related types of co-operatives (multi-stakeholder co-ops and worker-shareholder co-ops), and organizations that support the growth and development of worker cooperatives. CWCF's e-newsletter is available free of charge to anyone with an e-mail address and an interest in worker co-operative developments in Canada.    
Please send any comments and suggestions to:  
Kenzie Love
Editor of CWCF Newsletter 
(204) 276-8250