By Steve Rhodes
“Worker cooperatives will gather [Friday, 9:30 a.m.] at the Secretary of State’s office in Chicago to submit their registration forms to incorporate under the Illinois Limited Worker Cooperative Association Act (LWCA) and be recognized as worker cooperatives in the State of Illinois,” Centro de Trabajadores Unidos (United Workers’ Center) says in a press release today.
“Last spring session, efforts from the Illinois Coalition for Cooperative Advancement were successful as they worked towards passing the LWCA which received unanimous bi-partisan support in both chambers.
“The Illinois Limited Worker Cooperative Association Act enables worker owners to register the cooperative as a new corporate entity to develop and thrive as worker owned business in Illinois. In the state of Illinois there are more than a thousand (1,032) cooperative businesses that support over 3 million cooperative members and nearly nineteen thousand jobs.
“Worker co-ops are excited to take advantage of the new limited worker cooperative association entity. This moment marks significant progress in building and supporting the emerging worker cooperative ecosystem in Illinois,” states Renee Hatcher, Director of the Community Enterprise & Solidarity Economy Clinic, UIC John Marshall Law School.
“The Cooperation Chicago: Building a Worker Cooperative Ecosystem in Chicago study conducted in partnership by the Illinois Worker Cooperative Alliance and John Marshall Law School demonstrates that nearly a third of U.S. worker cooperatives operating today were established since 2010, and over 60% of new cooperative worker-owners are people of color and more than 66% of total worker-owners are women.
“We have worked for so many years under the employment of owners that mistreat us in the workplace,” says Socorro Paz, Worker Cooperative Owner from Cooperativa Visionarias. “We decided to form this women-run worker cooperative business because we want to be self-sustaining, independent and financially stable.”
Posted on March 12, 2020