May 29, 2026 · 22 min · 5 segments
In 1941, a young priest in Spain helped spark a movement that would transform worker ownership forever. Today, that spirit is crossing the Atlantic. In our latest episode, we explore the emerging…
Ellen VeraGuest
Chelsea IngleHost
Rob WitherellGuest
[upbeat music] Yeah, can you start by just telling us a bit about yourself, including how you became the director of Co-op Cincy?
Um, before that, I worked, um, before coming and working for Co-op Cincy, I, uh, was a union organizer and organizing director.
You know, I was really kind of passionate kind of growing up and especially in college around, you know, helping people realize their power and their voice, and so I did a lot of organizing, um, started kind of an anti-war movement, um, doing organizing, and then, you know, had worked really hard to learn Spanish.
And so I just ended up doing a lot around, uh, immigrant rights, and the groups that were doing the most on that was, um, the labor movement, and so that's really g- got what got me introduced to the labor movement.
And so I worked with mostly food processing workers for the good portion of, of my time as a union organizer, but one of the things that I just noticed was just how hard, you know, just how awful the labor laws are in terms of protecting workers' rights.
And so I just realized that I wanted to be able to do something that was a proactive approach to creating the types of workplaces that I wanted to see.
I love that your work in, like, the anti-war and immigrants' rights movement is what led you, in a way, to our movement, and I think more people should know about that connection-
So for folks who don't know, what is Co-op Cincy exactly, and what exactly is its affiliation with the Steelworkers?
So Co-op Cincy is a nonprofit cooperative business incubator and network of worker-owned businesses.
Um, we currently have about 17 different cooperative businesses that are part of our network, and our founding, uh, was based off of this agreement that the steelworkers made with the most successful group of worker-owned co-ops in the world to start forming these co-ops in the United States.
The initial, um, steelworker kind of representative was for our district from Dave McLean.
Um, he was on, you know, for many, many years until he ended up, you know, kind of having to step back for some health reasons.
And, uh, but you know, we, we c- work with the current, you know, reps. We've gotten, you know, really involved with our local, and so we've got, um, several of us now within, like, the co-op, so three of our shops are steelworker shops.
And, and, uh, the, the president of our local, you know, comes out of Sustainergy, which is one of our worker-owned co-ops.
[upbeat music] Yeah, can you start by just telling us a bit about yourself, including how you became the director of Co-op Cincy?
Um, before that, I worked, um, before coming and working for Co-op Cincy, I, uh, was a union organizer and organizing director.
You know, I was really kind of passionate kind of growing up and especially in college around, you know, helping people realize their power and their voice, and so I did a lot of organizing, um, started kind of an anti-war movement, um, doing organizing, and then, you know, had worked really hard to learn Spanish.
And so I just ended up doing a lot around, uh, immigrant rights, and the groups that were doing the most on that was, um, the labor movement, and so that's really g- got what got me introduced to the labor movement.
And so I worked with mostly food processing workers for the good portion of, of my time as a union organizer, but one of the things that I just noticed was just how hard, you know, just how awful the labor laws are in terms of protecting workers' rights.
And so I just realized that I wanted to be able to do something that was a proactive approach to creating the types of workplaces that I wanted to see.
I love that your work in, like, the anti-war and immigrants' rights movement is what led you, in a way, to our movement, and I think more people should know about that connection-
So for folks who don't know, what is Co-op Cincy exactly, and what exactly is its affiliation with the Steelworkers?
So Co-op Cincy is a nonprofit cooperative business incubator and network of worker-owned businesses.
Um, we currently have about 17 different cooperative businesses that are part of our network, and our founding, uh, was based off of this agreement that the steelworkers made with the most successful group of worker-owned co-ops in the world to start forming these co-ops in the United States.
The initial, um, steelworker kind of representative was for our district from Dave McLean.
Um, he was on, you know, for many, many years until he ended up, you know, kind of having to step back for some health reasons.
And, uh, but you know, we, we c- work with the current, you know, reps. We've gotten, you know, really involved with our local, and so we've got, um, several of us now within, like, the co-op, so three of our shops are steelworker shops.
And, and, uh, the, the president of our local, you know, comes out of Sustainergy, which is one of our worker-owned co-ops.
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