UNION STAFFING CO-OPS

Want to help build a worker-led alternative to Florida’s temp industry? We’re looking for partners in labor, worker co-op development, and high-road employers.

partner with us

Building Worker-Led Alternatives to the Temp Industry

The temp industry thrives by treating workers as disposable. Staffing co-ops flip that model. Instead of a profit-driven temp agency acting as the middleman, a worker-owned staffing cooperative is built and governed by workers, so the people doing the work control the terms of the work.

Beyond the Bars is in the early stages of developing a union staffing co-op model for workers with records in South Florida, with a target launch in 2027. Our goal is to create a high-road alternative that raises standards, delivering fair pay, safer conditions, and real stability for workers while pushing the entire temp industry upward.

What is a union staffing co-op?

A union worker-owned staffing co-op is a staffing business that:

is owned and governed by workers

places worker-owners into jobs with high-road employers

keeps profits and decision-making with workers, not investors

sets and enforces fair job standards (wages, safety, scheduling)

includes worker-owners who are also union members

Traditional temp agencyowned by private investors
profits come from keeping wages low
workers are disposable
Workers have no voice or control
Union Staffing Cooperativeowned by workers
profits are shared with workers
prioritizes safe, stable jobs
workers have voice + governance

Staffing Co-op Development Timeline

Below is our development timeline from research to launch.

COOPERATIVE RESEARCH (2022–2024)

Beyond the Bars began exploring worker-owned business models as we deepened our organizing with workers with records and kept seeing the same cycle. Our members were moving from one low-wage job to the next, constantly pushed back into unstable work and supplementing income in the informal economy.

That informal economy work was powerful. Members launched all kinds of small businesses: pressure washing, HVAC installation, landscaping, painting, and more, trying to build stability where the labor market offered none. That spirit of self-determination raised a bigger question for us: What would it look like to for economic infrastructure that supported our members?

During this phase, we began learning from worker cooperative models. We attended a cooperative development course with a local worker co-op developer and brought interested members into the learning process, building a shared understanding of cooperative governance, capitalization, and worker ownership structures.

‍

INDUSTRY RESEARCH (2025)

In 2025, we entered a deeper research and design phase focused specifically on staffing agency cooperatives and union-cooperative models. We examined existing staffing co-ops across the country and studied how cooperative staffing can function as a tool for strengthening the labor movement, particularly in sectors shaped by churn and wage suppression.

We also began mapping the relationships and partnerships needed to make a union staffing co-op viable, including labor partners, cooperative developers, and high-road employers.

Pre-pilot (2026)

In 2026, we will move from research to implementation planning. This will include business planning, capitalization strategy, and legal structure development, worker-owner governance design and leadership development pathways, employer relationship development and job placement strategy, systems for wages, scheduling, benefits, safety, and accountability, and more.

Launch (2027)

We aim to launch the union staffing co-op in 2027 and begin placing worker-owners into construction and warehousing jobs.

BUILD WORKER POWER WITH US

Temp worker or worker with a record? Join Beyond the Bars.

Union or community organization? Partner with us. 

Want analysis and updates? Subscribe to The Work Release.

Ready to fund the work? Donate.