Reflections from the Ohio Co-op Solidarity Tour

This past week, I had the utmost privilege and opportunity to travel to Cleveland and participate in the first day of the “Ohio Co-op Solidarity Tour.” This tour, organized by a handful of local organizations, provided the opportunity to see and learn about numerous co-ops in the cities of Cleveland, Dayton, Columbus, and Cincinnati. While I unfortunately could only get enough time off from work to attend the Cleveland portion of the tour (thank you to my dictator boss, and Slaveway), I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity and happy to have experienced a portion of the tour.

After a long day of traveling, I was welcomed with warm arms into the home of Ayat and Karim, two comrades involved in the Cleveland co-op scene whom I had previously never met. Ayat and Karim live with three others in collectivized housing, putting the decommodification of housing and emphasis of community into direct practice. At a surface level, collectivized housing may seem similar to standard roommate living situations that are so common in our capitalist society, however this is not entirely true. In collectivized housing such as the one I was able to stay in; there is greater emphasis on community than you might find in typical roommate situations. For starters, by being collectivized, rooms in the house are rented for below market values, and residents can stay as long as they wish. Resources such as food are shared, and the residents of this house routinely cook communal meals for everyone living there. Alongside material differences such as resource sharing in collective housing, there is a cultural difference that is difficult to properly articulate. The feeling of community in the house was palpable, and it was clear to me everyone living there was committed to a post-capitalist vision of housing that builds community, rather than alienating and separating along the basis of private property. As someone who lives completely by themselves, it was very nice to experience, albeit briefly, such a welcoming and positive alternative to typical living situations under capitalism.

The next day, after taking a brief walk around the area, we embarked on the Cleveland portion of the Co-op Solidarity Tour. I was immediately impressed by the level of organization and planning undertaken by the local orgs in facilitating such an event. Our first stop was to a community land trust, not unlike our very own Dishgamu Humboldt, but with some differences. This land trust (whose name is currently eluding me) was very much in its infancy, but was showing strong promise to grow into something great. Under this land trust, homeowners could join the trust, and thereby grant ownership of the land to the trust, with the requirement that if they were ever to sell their home, they could only do so at 80% of the market value. The goal of such requirement is to keep housing affordable, and offset the influence of capitalists price-gouging an essential commodity such as housing (something we are all to familiar with in California). Additionally, under this land trust, those who join grant ownership of the land to the trust, but retain ownership of the building located on the land. Comparing this land trust to the Wiyot Tribe’s Dishgamu Humboldt offers some differences. First, Dishgamu Humboldt is tribally owned, and is currently the only indigenous-led community land trust in the country. Dishgamu Humboldt also is currently engaged in developing low-income affordable apartments in the city of Eureka, whereas the land trust in Cleveland is currently seeking homeowners to join the land trust. It is my belief that both approaches to community land trusts are valid and essential to the greater goal of decommodifying housing and building a post-capitalist solidarity economy.

Next, we heard a presentation from Good Builders, a group based out of Cleveland that uses truly sustainable building materials in construction and retrofitting. By using materials such as straw for insulation, and linoleum for flooring, Good Builders is dedicated to reforming how we go about construction, and reducing the use of materials whose extraction harms the planet (construction is one of the most wasteful industries on the planet), as well as by not using commonplace construction materials that are toxic and unsafe to humans. Good Builders offered an in-depth look into how their practices minimize pollution and waste, and promote the use of safe building materials, but quite frankly much of the technical details went over my humanities-major brain. Nevertheless, I learned quite a bit about sustainable (and not green-washed) building practices, and seeing people dedicated to such practices gives me some hope for the future of our country and world.

Next, we took a trip to Rust Belt Riders, a worker co-op dedicated to composting and offsetting the amount of waste going through Ohio’s dumps. As a worker co-op Rust Belt Riders is worker-owned, meaning the workers own the means of production, and share the profits of the business. Rust Belt Riders operate under a 1/3 rule, meaning that 1/3 of their profit is allocated toward the business, 1/3 goes to the workers, and 1/3 goes back to the community. While Rust Belt Riders is a worker co-op, not all of their workers are considered worker-owners. I absolutely do not bring this up to criticize the co-op, but rather to emphasize the differences that can arise in how co-ops operate, and to open up a larger conversation around how to develop worker co-ops. Again, many of the technical details around how Rust Belt Riders composts went over my head, although my takeaway was a feeling of optimism seeing the intersection of environmentalism and economic democracy.

Finally, we returned to our starting point to hold what Cleveland Owns (one of the organizations who dedicated tremendous effort into organizing the tour) calls co-op circles. Co-op circles operate in a world-café style, where breakout groups are formed and facilitated discussions are held with each group discussing a different topic. I participated in a discussion around the intersection between labor unions and worker co-ops, which was excellently facilitated by Andy and Gracie of the Northeast Ohio Worker Center. As a strong supporter of worker co-ops, and a member of a large bureaucratic labor union that leaves much to be desired (UFCW), I felt this conversation to be highly relevant to me, and my experience with my union to offer good insight into the tensions that sometimes arise between worker co-ops and organized labor. We discussed feelings of apathy many in large unions such as my own feel, as well as the hostility towards organized labor some worker co-ops feel. Many of us see that the erosion of union power that has coalesced since the Reagan-era, has left our unions weak, overly bureaucratic, and often operating like a private business, creating apathy and animosity towards aspects of organized labor. Similarly, many worker co-ops feel very much like start-up businesses, with a greater degree of risk that might influence one’s decision to seek employment under traditional private businesses. Debate around this topic largely stems from the belief that unions seek to reform and operate from within the capitalist system, while worker co-ops seek to offer something new and operate outside of the capitalist system (i.e., non-reformist reforms). It is my belief that both approaches are valid, and should uplift one another so we might hope to resist end-stage capitalism, and build the solidarity economy we dream of.

That night, I stayed in a different housing collective, the Catholic Worker, and anarchist housing co-op that prioritizes the unhoused community. The house was very nice, and deceptively large, offering seven bedrooms to house people in. I was very impressed by the project, and felt optimism knowing that there are similar housing collectives all across the country.

By this point, it was time for me to travel back to California. While I wish I had the time to participate in the rest of the tour, I had thoroughly enjoyed my brief time in Cleveland, and was incredibly touched by the generosity, hospitality, and compassion of everyone in the Ohio co-op scene. It was a great privilege to participate in the tour and meet some seriously amazing folks. I left feeling optimistic, and with ideas for similar teach-ins and tours that we could organize here in Humboldt. To Ayat, Karim, Bogdan, Jonathan, Prerna, Amaha, Andy, Gracie, and everyone else I had the joy of meeting: Thank you so much for your hospitality, and your work organizing the tour, and for your commitment to building a more just and economically democratic world. The future of the solidarity economy is looking bright in Ohio!

Travis Kennedy

Chair, North Coast Progressive Alliance

Jonathan (Cleveland Owns), Amaha (Co-op Dayton), and Travis (North Coast Progressive Alliance)