Grassroots Organizing

An Interview with People’s Plumbing Worker Co-op. Josh talks to Cristobal, Wren, and Dayle — three of the people behind People’s Plumbing, a worker cooperative operating on the Gift Economy model in Cleveland, OH. That’s right, when People’s Plumbing does a job, there is no bill to be paid at the end, just a participation form and a flushing toilet.

Above photo: Vanshika Babbar (Young Socialist Artists), Udayapuram Cooperative Workers, 2025. In 1925, before the communist movement was established in southwestern India, the followers of the social reformer Vayaleri Kunhikannan Gurukkal, also known as Sri Vagbhatananda Guru, (1885–1939) founded the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) to provide construction workers with social protection.

Above image: Drawing by Brandon Black, created from conversations during the “Sparking Possibilities” exercise at the start of the Symposium. The 7thUnion Co-op Symposium, a gathering of worker-owners and union members from across the US, opened with guests being invited to talk to someone they don’t know. Facilitators repeat this exercise two or three times in a row to begin the biennial event.