<
https://www.yesmagazine.org/economy/2023/12/07/business-cooperative-boomers-model>
"Sierra Allen, 21-year-old barista, had just ended their shift at Baltimore’s
Common Ground Cafe on July 2, 2023, when a co-worker texted them the shocking
news: Owner Michael Krupp was unceremoniously closing the beloved coffee shop
for good and laying off its 30 employees, effective immediately. “It was a
moment of shock. I was in a grocery store, and I burst into tears, because no
one knew what was going on.”
Allen was devastated by the news that they were losing a job that provided
stable employment and a supportive community. The layoffs left them struggling
financially—to get unemployment and to keep up with mounting bills. But Common
Ground’s workers are a tight-knit group who became even closer as they
weathered the challenges of seeing the profitable business through a pandemic.
They weren’t ready to give up the shop.
The 20- and 30-something-year-olds relied on each other to endure the sudden
job loss, raising thousands of dollars to help each other pay their rent, buy
food, and support their families. The staff had already begun working to form a
union to fight for better wages and rights in their workplace, and didn’t want
another owner taking over. They believed they could reopen Common Ground in a
way that gave the workers the power and ownership in the workplace that they
felt they deserved.
“‘Making it’ is when we get to a point in our lives where we can take care of
our friends,” says 30-year-old Common Ground barista Jacqueline Du.
Two days after the closing was announced, their lives upended, the workers
shared that they were exploring the possibility of reopening Common Ground as a
worker cooperative—a business owned and democratically operated by its workers.
They found support from the loyal customer base built by the business in over
25 years as a fixture in the Hampden neighborhood.
Over the next two-and-a-half months, the former employees worked tirelessly to
make the transition happen. Their journey provides lessons for community
members who see worker-ownership as a potential tool to preserve and enhance
their livelihoods as a flood of small business owners reach retirement age.
Some 24 million United States workers could be affected by the coming “silver
tsunami,” which refers to business owners of the baby boomer generation
retiring without a succession plan for their businesses.
“The minute that I found out about [the closure] was also the minute we started
to organize,” says Nic Koski, a Common Ground employee who emerged as a leader
in the effort to turn the business into a worker-owned cooperative."
Via
The Fixer December 13, 2023:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/silve-tsunami-worker-cooperatives-as-baby-boomers-retire/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
