What Compels Us. Women, particularly women of color and immigrant women, typically earn lower pay and have fewer assets than men. In the San Francisco Bay Area, an estimated 37 % of Latina/o households are barely able to meet their basic needs. And many are poor even though they work – for low pay and often in hazardous conditions. At WAGES, we believe that all women should have access to healthy jobs with fair pay and benefits and a real chance to build economic security.
Incubating Change. For 15 years, WAGES, Women's Action to Gain Economic Security, has worked with low-income immigrant Latinas to launch green business cooperatives, a model that enables women to work together to succeed. As co-op members, women have healthy work, good pay, and a voice and a vote in key decisions – and they distribute business profits equitably. WAGES provides training and technical assistance to incubate the co-ops and a framework for continued learning and business growth through our Co-op Network.
Sharing Our Model. In addition to building successful cooperative businesses locally, WAGES conducts community workshops throughout the Bay Area and consults with other groups around the country. We offer an in-depth Co-op Development Toolkit to qualified organizations, and we have provided technical assistance for a number of new co-ops inspired by our model.
