The Latest News From Canada's Worker Co-op Sector
August 2021 Volume 13 Issue 8
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In This Issue
- Report from the Executive Director, by Hazel Corcoran
- Rapport de la directrice générale, par Hazel Corcoran
- VALU Co-op Offers Artists the Chance to Make a Living and a Life, by Kenzie Love
- La coopérative VALU offre aux artistes la chance de vivre de leur art, par Kenzie Love
- Lack of Awareness a Barrier for Co-op Education on Campus, by Kenzie Love
- CWCF 2021 Conference: Day One Preview
- Congrès de la FCCT : aperçu de la première journée
- Home Care Workers' Co-operative: Personal Support Workers United
- SSG Worker Co-op Shares Solutions on Climate Action
- CWCF's Tenacity Works Fund Interest Rate is Changing, by Hazel Corcoran
- CWCF's Worker Co-op Webinar Series
- Canada's Small Businesses Could Be Saved by Converting Them to Worker Co-operatives, by Marcelo Vieta
- Platform Co-operatives Now! - Online Course Registration Now Open
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Report from the Executive Director
By Hazel Corcoran
CWCF is excited to be hosting our first ever fully virtual conference this fall, from November 16-18.
Rapport de la directrice générale
Par Hazel Corcoran
La Fédération canadienne des coopératives de travail (FCCT) prépare avec enthousiasme son premier congrès entièrement virtuel, prévu du 16 au 18 novembre.
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VALU Co-op Offers Artists the Chance to Make a Living and a Life
By Kenzie Love
Precarious, low-paying work has long been a feature of employment in the arts sector. A group of Vancouver artists, however, wanted to change that, so they founded VALU (Vancouver Artists Labour Union) Co-op, a unionized worker co-op intended to provide stable income for its members.
Par Kenzie Love
Le travail précaire et mal rémunéré a longtemps caractérisé l’emploi dans le secteur des arts. Un groupe d’artistes de Vancouver a souhaité changer ce phénomène en fondant la Coopérative VALU (Vancouver Artists Labour Union), une coopérative de travail syndiquée déterminée à offrir un salaire stable à ses membres.
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Lack of Awareness a Barrier for Co-op Education on Campus
By Kenzie Love
Among the obstacles the co-operative movement faces, education — or a lack thereof - is often cited as a key factor, with co-operators pointing to neglect of the model in many business schools’ curricula. As Simon Berge of the University of Winnipeg observes, “most business schools currently present the neoliberal capitalist model for business operations.” This model argues that everyone is a rational, self-centred human being only interested in increasing their personal gains.
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CWCF 2021 Conference: Day One Preview
CWCF is excited to begin our bilingual 2021 Conference, Building Better Together, November 16 with a keynote panel and peer learning session.
Congrès de la FCCT : aperçu de la première journée
La FCCT est heureuse d’inaugurer son congrès bilingue 2021, Mieux construire ensemble, par une table ronde et une session d’apprentissage par les pair⋅e⋅s le 16 novembre.
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Home Care Workers' Co-operative: Personal Support Workers United
The Home Care Workers' Co-operative of Peterborough Ontario is showing that there is a better way to offer long-term care.
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SSG Worker Co-op Shares Solutions on Climate Action
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CWCF's Tenacity Works Fund Interest Rate is Changing
By Hazel Corcoran
The Fund’s Investment Committee and the CWCF Board have decided that the Tenacity Works Fund interest rate can be set within a range of 4 – 8%, depending on level of risk. Guidelines are still being finalized; they would include that start-ups would generally be at the higher end, and co-ops with good track records seeking to expand as well as business conversions to worker co-ops would generally be at the lower end. Other factors considered will include: credit history, the purpose of the loan and its impact on the co-op, experience of the team, the co-op’s capacity to repay the debt, and availability of security. To learn more about the Tenacity Works Fund, see this link. It is expected that the guidelines for the new interest rate will be finalized within the next few weeks.
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CWCF’s Worker Co-op Webinar Series
In coming months, CWCF will again offer a series of webinars. Worker Co-ops 101 will be offered by Executive Director Hazel Corcoran in two parts: September 8th and 15th at noon – 1 pm Eastern Time (ET). Co-op developer Russ Christianson will offer Worker Co-op Finance 101 on October 19th, also at noon – 1 pm ET. Worker Co-op Governance 101 will be presented later in the fall, for which we’ll share the date soon. In addition, a webinar on Indivisible Reserves in Worker Co-ops will be presented by Sonja Novkovic of Saint Mary’s University and Hazel Corcoran; the tentative date is October 6th at noon ET for 90 minutes. To register, see this link. (Image above courtesy of Molly Graham, artist).
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Canada's Small Businesses Could Be Saved by Converting Them to Co-operatives
By Marcelo Vieta
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Platform Co-operatives Now! - Online Course Registration Now Open
The Platform Cooperativism Consortium (PCC) at The New School in New York City and MONDRAGON Co-op & MONDRAGON UNIVERSITY (Spain) are again offering Platform Cooperatives Now!, an online course to introduce, incubate, and accelerate platform cooperatives.
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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, or news about your co-op, to:
Kenzie Love
Editor of CWCF Newsletter
.(403) 276-8250
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