Can you share a bit about your co-operative or mutual and the problem it aims to address in the community?
Zane Alcorn from Earthworker Construction Cooperative (ECC) “Internally, from the perspective of worker owners, ECC is about providing a “third path” for construction workers who would usually either sell their labour to a for profit company, or in some cases they might seek to start a small for profit company. Doing sole trader ABN work and being at the mercy of the company you are ‘subbying’ to is also common. ECC worker owners don’t want to be cogs in someone else’s machine and nor do we want to run a for profit company where a small group of managers extract profit from the workers beneath them.
Outwardly, ECC are keen to go from our current status doing small carpentry and plumbing jobs and OHS training, and work our way up to building eco-friendly homes and renovations. We eventually want to try and make eco-friendly building methods like earth building affordable for working class people.
And as part of the broader Earthworker project, we aim to use demand for products and services in Australian cities to generate alternative employment in regions historically reliant on coal mining and coal fired power such as the Hunter Valley and Latrobe Valley. So in our case that would mean sourcing prefabricated building components and other building inputs from sister coops and mutuals in these regions. That’s a longer term goal, and we still have a fair way to go to get to that point.“
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