Can Unions and Cooperatives Join Forces? An Interview With United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard

Can Unions and Cooperatives Join Forces? An Interview With United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard

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"It has evolved slowly," he continued. "I'd rather go slow and build a good foundation than go fast and fail. We've developed a pretty broad network of allies and supporters. We've got some projects going on, including a green laundry concept in Pittsburgh. In almost every major city, there are industrial laundries. The work is hard, it's dangerous, and it doesn't pay very well."

The Steelworkers have helped launch a cooperative laundry in Pittsburgh that allows workers to benefit from the profits of the business and that uses environmentally friendly technologies.

"It's going to have roots. It's going to have customers. It's going to have structure," says Gerard of the Pittsburgh laundry. "We're talking to universities, hospitals and hotels. They get the advantage of being in a green laundry that's efficient. They get to be in a progressive organization like a co-op and then build forward."