Cincinnati Union Cooperative Initiative – 3rd Biennial Union Co-op Symposium

Stand Up & Build: Creating Worker-Owned Co-ops to Reduce Inequality

On Dec 1st & 2nd, people from across the U.S. and from Mondragon, Spain will be in Cincinnati to further develop the union co-op sector of the U.S. economy. The event brings together over 200 workers, union and community organizers, and business and religious leaders to learn from one another and from the economically thriving Mondragon system (the largest group of worker-owned cooperatives).

During the last 61 years, the Mondragon cooperative network has transformed a devastated, war torn region of Spain rife with poverty and unemployment into thriving, vibrant communities that have weathered financial crisis. Mondragon’s network, which includes more than 100 cooperatives and 74,000 worker owners, generated more than $12 billion in sales in 2016.

The union co-op movement in the U.S. is growing, including four businesses that are part of the Cincinnati Union Co-op Initiative (CUCI), organizer of the symposium. The symposium will focus on progress being made to establish integrated networks of worker-owned, unionized businesses. Participants will discuss best practices, union co-op management, financing, training, the power of the union co-op model, and ways to build an economy that works for all.

The Symposium will feature:
A delegation from Mondragon, one of the world’s most successful networks of cooperatives and CUCI’s inspiration and model; the first national 1 Worker 1Vote General Assembly, laying the foundation for the national co-op of co-ops, a huge milestone in our development; and other renowned speakers. We have designed this program not only to inspire, but to build capacity for cooperatives and demonstrate the importance of building a network of cooperatives.