The Collective Claire Van Fossen's blog is part of our Purple Wisconsin project. Van Fossen is a lifelong Sherman Park resident who is deeply dedicated to a vision of a socially just Milwaukee. SHARE

By

Part of my vision for this blog has always been to utilize it as a tool to amplify the voices of folks in the city with radical views.

Recently Zac Johnson, a Milwaukee community member and Michigan native who teaches fourth grade in the city, shared with me his views on the lack of attention cooperatives have received in the economic discourse of the gubernatorial race, particularly on the part of Democratic candidate for office Mary Burke. Zac himself is a member-owner and volunteer of several community cooperatives in his neighborhood of Riverwest. I’m proud and honored to share his opinion here, as I think he meaningfully emphasizes the economic and social importance of cooperatives, challenging Mary Burke to outline a plan to fulfill her promise to support cooperative development.

Hope you enjoy his great piece on this topic:

The 2014 gubernatorial race has, as of late, been dominated by news of Scott Walker’s involvement in the ongoing John Doe investigation. While certainly important, these investigations have overshadowed discussion of the issues at stake in the upcoming election. Many questions have gone unanswered.

You may remember that challenger Mary Burke released her jobs plan in March, to a generally positive, albeit cautious, response from many. The Journal Sentinel editorial board called it “thoughtful, substantial.” Economist Andrew Reschovsky described the plan as “aspirational;” well-intentioned, perhaps, but void of substance in many important areas. Burke has since continued her campaign travels, promoting the familiar parts of her plan: the development of industry “clusters,” improvements to education and workplace training, even a $10.10 minimum wage.



Yet, an important aspect of her plan has received scant - if any - attention: cooperatives. Burke’s plan suggests that an important part of creating a “climate of job growth” is to “promote the formation of community-based business and cooperative ventures by matching anchor institutions and their local vendors with Community Business Development partners.” (29) This model is familiar to those of us supportive of cooperative development. Indeed, it has proven successful in Cleveland, Ohio, with the development of Evergreen Cooperatives, whose partnerships with anchor institutions (like hospitals and universities) provide its worker-owners with a living wage, and center institutional spending in the community through the development of an industrial laundry, solar panel installation, and, most recently, a commercial greenhouse. Other cities, too, have begun trumpeting their support of worker cooperatives as a means of economic and social recovery.



The benefits of cooperatives should be obvious in Wisconsin, a state with a long history of agricultural cooperatives which even Burke has acknowledged help many Wisconsin dairy farmers. In the case of worker cooperatives, benefits of the sort of cooperative development go beyond job creation, price stabilization, and increased purchasing power. For one, worker-owned cooperatives operate democratically, which means that such companies would not be able to outsource or eliminate jobs at the whim of a singular owner or absentee shareholders (and how likely are workers to vote to outsource their own jobs, really?). Further, jobs in worker-owned cooperatives would likely provide far more protections than Burke’s timid acceptance of organized labor is likely to elsewhere (and we can forget about Walker on this point).



Second, the introduction of living wage jobs into the most economically disadvantaged areas in Wisconsin - like Milwaukee’s north side and many parts of its south side - would bring change on multiple levels. Milwaukee residents are well aware of the problems that plague a community unable to secure living wages for its residents. Burke seems to think that changes in education and streamlined career pathways will help economically disadvantaged youth pull themselves up by their proverbial bootstraps. As many educators will tell you, institutional changes in education alone will simply never provide the stability and security - much less essentials like food, utilities, and clothing - that are important for students to thrive in and beyond the classroom. A living wage might.



As a community, as voters, we owe it to ourselves to push Burke on this point. Burke says that Wisconsin ought to be a leader. She says that the economy isn’t working until it’s working for everybody. Accepting these points, we should not accept lip service to workable and sustainable models without action. Demand a sincere, robust investment in cooperative development and a living wage for our communities now!



Editor's Note: Purple Wisconsin is a collection of community bloggers with views from across the political spectrum. The Journal Sentinel hosts these blogs as a way to encourage thoughtful debate about the important issues facing Wisconsin and the Milwaukee region. The opinions voiced here are those of the individual bloggers alone; they are responsible for their posts. The Journal Sentinel does not edit or direct the bloggers in any fashion.