General
CCHD Worker Owned Cooperatives
Catholic Campaign for Human Development Economic Development Initiatives -- Worker Owned Cooperatives
Worker-owned cooperatives are business entities that are owned and controlled by their members, the people who work in them. The two central characteristics of worker-owned cooperatives are: (1) workers invest in and own the business and (2) decision making is democratic, generally adhering to the principle of one worker-one vote.* Worker-owned cooperatives provide meaningful jobs and asset-building opportunities for workers.
Over the past fifteen years, CCHD has supported worker-owned cooperatives focused on paraprofessional health care, child care, cleaning, sewing and craft production, and temporary employment businesses.
The Catholic Church has long sought alternative structures that can create a more just society and economy. CCHD’s economic development program embodies this framework as it fosters worker-owned businesses and other innovative structures that provide opportunities for low-income persons as they work their way out of poverty.