For Immediate Release: July 15, 2024

                                                CASA Celebrates The Launch of the Organization’s First Workers’ Cooperative

                                       The Small Business Development and the Co-op Incubator Programs are Up and Running.

LANGLEY PARK, MD — CASA, national  immigration rights advocacy organization, is thrilled to announce the official launch of CASA’s first workers’ cooperative.  The Workers Co-op Without Borders (WCWB), launched in response to the significant challenges immigrant communities face when trying to secure stable, well-paying jobs in industries such as construction, cleaning, childcare services, and food service. 

“In a world with so many economic disparities, where corporate owners not only rule the economy but its workers, it’s imperative to organize companies owned and run by the workers themselves. These are companies defined by ethics and with a social conscience,” said Senior Director of CASA’s Community Economic Development Department Lindolfo Carballo.

This pioneering project is an important step towards building strong, vibrant, and equitable communities. It aims to create and develop economic opportunities through ownership. When employees are the owners, it elevates the playing field by allowing them to set the wages and the working conditions for immigrant and working-class workers.

“Organizing CASA’s first workers co-op has been hard. We have invested long hours of work on weeknights and weekends to understand what a co-op is, how it works, getting to know each other as co-op members, and defining our mission, vision, and business model,” said WCWB Founder and President, Pedro Larrama. He added, “By fostering this collaborative approach, the co-op is committed to creating a more just and equitable labor market.”

The Workers Co-op Without Borders, WCWB, is an organization independent of CASA, while remaining aligned with CASA’s vision and mission.

“With the support of CASA, our newly founded workers co-op will be able to bid for residential construction projects as a general contractor or sub-contractor, create well-paying jobs with benefits for its members and affiliates, and lastly participate in workforce development trade training opportunities. We will also be able to join local, national, and international co-op associations,” said WCWB Founder and Secretary, Maria Ines Gomez. “By empowering day laborers, immigrants, and working-class residents they now have a better chance to participate fully in the economic life of their communities.”      

 

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With over 155,000 lifetime members across 46 US states, CASA is a national powerhouse organization building power and improving the quality of life in working-class: Black, Latino/a/e, Afro-descendent, Indigenous, and Immigrant communities. CASA creates change with its power-building model, blending human services, community organizing, and advocacy in order to serve the full spectrum of the needs, dreams, and aspirations of members. www.wearecasa.org