Press Release: EBCLC and its Partners Win Key Legislative Victory for California Worker Cooperatives

(BERKELEY, CA) – The East Bay Community Law Center (“EBCLC”), Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), and community partners proudly announced today that Governor Brown signed a new law to facilitate the creation of worker-owned businesses in California. The law was the result of EBCLC’s two-year effort to remove unnecessary barriers to the creation of new worker cooperatives in California.

“AB 816, the California Worker Cooperative Act, provides a clear legal template for the formation of worker-owned businesses,” said EBCLC staff attorney Sushil Jacob. “By providing a pathway to incorporation and a clear legal structure, AB 816 will encourage the creation of new businesses and jobs that build the assets of working people throughout the state.”

“Worker owned businesses are central to a full economic recovery and to closing the income inequality gap,” explained Assm. Bonta, who introduced the bill. “As low-income communities continue to struggle with the dual problems of high rates of unemployment and low-wages, worker-owned, worker-managed small businesses have emerged as an effective way to rebuild the local economy and address economic inequality.” View press Release