SHIFT CHANGE explores thriving businesses in the US and Spain that are worker-owned and self-managed. Hear from the workers themselves, see how these businesses are managed and how they benefit workers and the community.

The event is free (donations gratefully accepted). Doors open at 6pm with refreshments and socializing. The movie starts at 6:30pm. Following the movie, stay for a community discussion with our panelists:

Tony Harrah is a board member of Moving Images Video Project (producers of Shift change) and he was part of the team that traveled to the Basque region of Spain to film at the Mondragon cooperatives. He is a longtime political and labor activist and is the current president of the SEIU 925 retiree chapter, as well as a member of Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action.

Devra Gartenstein founded the progressive food business Patty Pan. Although initially a sole proprietorship, as the business grew it was converted to a worker-owned cooperative. She is also a peer advisor through the Democracy at Work Network, which provides technical assistance for worker cooperatives. Devra has also authored three books on eating well with healthy, local food.

Deborah Craig is a Cooperative Development Specialist at the Northwest Cooperative Development Center in Olympia, WA. She has over 20 years of experience in cooperative management, specializing in Human Resources in the Food Co-op and Home Care Co-op industries. Deborah also serves as a peer adviser with the Democracy at Work Network.

SHIFT CHANGE is a documentary film by veteran award-winning filmmakers Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin. 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 and today’s economic crisis, 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.