Co-ops

A worker cooperative, or co-op, is a democratically managed business owned and controlled by the workers.

Co-ops let workers combine their energy, capital, and skills to gain steady employment and income, participate in the ownership and management of their business, and share the profits made from their investment and labor.

In recent years, Los Angeles Worker Center Network (LAWCN) members have begun generating their own versions of the co-op model, demonstrating that decent wages and working conditions are possible in low-wage industries.

To learn more about co-ops in the Los Angeles region and access training materials for workers, visit LA Co-op Lab’s website.

When LAWCN member CLEAN Carwash Worker Center (CLEAN) was established in 2013, its members created a robust, one-of-a-kind detail training program. From the program emerged a cohort of car washers inspired to start their own carwash. Together, they built the first carwash worker co-op in the U.S., CleanWash Mobile LLC.

The co-op specializes in services to fleets, biodegradable safe products, and reduced use of water. Visit website >>

Incubated by LAWCN member Pilipino Workers Center, Courage Homecare is rooted in a vision to transform the homecare industry through a unique model as a worker-owned cooperative. The co-op seeks to cultivate personalized care in a just way that promotes dignity, respect, and good quality of life for both the company’s clients and its worker-owners. 

Executive Committee: Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California (lead), National Domestic Workers Alliance/NDWA Labs, The ICA Group, Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI), California Domestic Worker Coalition (CDWC). Visit website >>