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Help Me Finish My Co-op Research

My research examines the burgeoning "Union Coops" model of worker ownership in the United States (situations in which labor unions organize worker owned cooperatives). This model of the labor movement harkens back to the days of the Knights of Labor and has a lot of promise. It also didn't quite work back then for a number of different reasons.  Much has changed in terms of global capitalism, the labor movement, the development of worker cooperatives and the organizational structure of labor unions since the 1870's, so why is this model making a comeback? What synergies exist from the combination of these models? What challenges confront organizers and developers? Can the "UnionsCoops" model succeed and what does success look like?

I have spent my adult life in either the traditional labor movement or the worker coop movement. While earning a BA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I was a member and steward for the Memorial Union Labor Organization, an independent union of student workers at The Wisconsin Union. Afterwards, I spent 26 years with Union Cab of Madison as a driver, a director and a manager. I have also worked nationally and internationally with the US Federation of Worker Coops, the Coop Index Tool development team, and as a founding member of the Democracy at Work Network. 

I received a Masters in Management: Co-operatives and Credit Unions from St. Mary's University (Halifax) in 2010 and entered the Sobey School of Budinesz PhD program in Management in 2011. As part of the Master's program, I completed forty hours of training at Mondragon's Otalora Management Institute.

I entered the PhD Business (Management) program at St. Mary's University because I believe that we who run worker coops manage in translation. We need to create our own management models native to our governance and the cooperative identity.

I have finished all of my class work towards the PhD. I now need to conduct field research and write the thesis. I am looking to you: a person who may be interested in my research and in helping me get over the final stage to a successful defense! I am willing to barter for the help (see the rewards). The money will be used to conduct the case studies of three organizations and finish the dissertation and ultimately to help build better management models for cooperatives.

Organizer

John A McNamara
Organizer
Olympia, WA

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