The focus of the meeting will be both educational/introductory and strategic. The ICA Group (an employee ownership consultancy operating since 1977, and with strong ties to labor unions) has expressed interest in working with D@W - New Haven and CCTDSA on putting businesses on the path to being converted to democratic employee-ownership. With ICA working on the legal and transactional side of things, our CCTDSA Subcommittee/Working-Group is one that at minimum concentrates on (1) Outreach; (2) Advocacy (e.g., policy); and (3) Research. (The big opportunity for expanding workers’ control in this country can be read about in the San Francisco Chronicle and Washington Post). 

Worker Cooperatives are businesses that operate according to one worker, one vote, and can be constructed along various legal lines as a Democratic Employee-Owned firm (FAQs here about various forms of employee-ownership here). Twelve cities are investing in worker cooperative development today. Learning from these efforts, Greater New Haven can be a national leader on this policy. To give a sense of the immediate opportunity we have here, it’s worth noting that The ICA Group has helped develop the largest worker cooperative in the country: Cooperative Homecare Associates (CHCA), which has approximately 2,000 worker-owners, as well as one of the most nationally reputable in Equal Exchange.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions! As well as if you have any requests for items you’d like to see on the agenda or topics related to employee-ownership that you’d like to discuss.

In solidarity,

Alexander Kolokotronis