Membership in NoBAWC is available to the following organizations:

• Worker Cooperatives. A worker cooperative is an enterprise that produces goods, distributes goods and/or provides services and is owned and controlled by its worker-owners.  Worker ownership and control are defined as the following:
  • Worker Ownership: Ownership of the worker cooperative is vested solely with the worker-owners on an equal basis.  Worker-ownership must be available to all paid workers (except those who are temporary).
  • Worker Control: Worker-owners control the resources of the enterprise and the work process.  Each worker-owner has equal decision-making power and ultimate authority rests with the worker-owners as a whole.  Worker control can be exercised directly or indirectly by worker-owners. If exercised indirectly, members of representative decision-making bodies (e.g. a Board of Directors) must be elected by the worker-owners and be subject to removal by the worker-owners. A worker cooperative must have at least three worker-owners.  All worker-owners of NoBAWC worker cooperatives are entitled to NoBAWC benefits and to participate in NoBAWC decisions. If a worker cooperative fails to maintain the above requirements during its NoBAWC membership year, it will be considered a transitional workplace (see section b below) until the requirements are met. Start-up Worker Cooperatives are worker cooperatives that are not yet open for business, but plan to begin operations within one year.  All worker-owners of NoBAWC start-up worker cooperatives are entitled to NoBAWC benefits and to participate in NoBAWC decisions.

• Transitional Workplaces. A transitional workplace is an enterprise that does not yet satisfy the definition of a worker cooperative, but is committed to becoming a worker cooperative and is making progress toward satisfying the requirements described in (a).  All worker-owners of transitional workplaces are entitled to NoBAWC benefits and to participate in NoBAWC decisions. In order to maintain NoBAWC membership, the transitional workplace is required to demonstrate that it has made progress during the NoBAWC membership year toward becoming a worker cooperative.  Progress is defined as increasing the percentage of worker-owners to the total number of paid workers. Transitional workplaces with less than 50% worker-owners to total paid workers at the beginning of their first NoBAWC membership year must be comprised of over 50% worker-owners to total paid workers by the end of their first NoBAWC membership year in order to maintain their transitional NoBAWC membership status.

Paid and regular volunteer workers in entities other than (a) or (b) who have democratic control over their work process. Democratic control exists when paid and regular volunteer workers (excluding temporary and occasional volunteer workers) have equal decision-making power over the work process.  NoBAWC membership is not available to non-worker members of these entities (such as consumers in a consumer cooperative). Paid and regular volunteer workers of these entities are entitled to NoBAWC benefits and to participate in NoBAWC decisions.