Shift Change: Putting Democracy to Work

Own your own job? Yes you can. Thousands of people across the US and many more around the world do exactly that. They belong to the growing number of worker owned cooperatives. The documentary film Shift Change: Putting Democracy to Work tells their story. It tells the little known stories of employee-owned businesses that compete successfully in today's economy while providing secure, dignified jobs in democratic workplaces.

With the long decline in US manufacturing, millions have been thrown out of work, and many are losing their homes. The usual economic solutions are not working, so some citizens and public officials are ready to think outside of the box, to reinvent our failing economy in order to restore long term community stability and a more egalitarian way of life.

There is growing interest in firms that are owned and managed by their workers. Such firms tend to be more profitable and innovative, and more committed to the communities where they are based. Yet the public has little knowledge of their success, and the promise they offer for a better life.