Tree · Morwell, Victoria, Australia
Earthworker Cooperative
Worker-owned co-ops building clean energy jobs in coal country · Latrobe Valley
Shine Sunlight to follow their work and see how it grows.
Since 2011Works across the regionGippsland · Latrobe Valley (Gunaikurnai Country)
- worker co-op
- just transition
- community energy
- union
- manufacturing
Earthworker is a network of worker-owned co-operatives that grew out of an alliance of environmentalists and unionists formed around 1997, and became a co-operative in 2011. Its Morwell factory, Earthworker Energy Manufacturing Co-operative, makes solar, heat pump and electric hot water systems, and sister co-ops cover construction, home energy efficiency and community-owned energy retail (CoPower).
In the Latrobe Valley, where coal jobs are disappearing, Earthworker shows a worker-owned route through the energy transition. Every employee can become a co-owner, profits are shared equally and stay local, and members are paid union wage rates. The co-ops are designing a General Assembly with two delegates from each co-op, plus a shared-services co-op.