Earthworker Construction Cooperative Backyard Pod

This week we transferred $5,000 to Earthworker Construction Cooperative (EEC) to help them prototype a small, prefabricated backyard pod to address the housing crisis.  This is the second of two transfers for the $10,000 impact project which customer member voted to support in the 2023 democratic budget.

EEC is a new worker-owned cooperative based out of Naarm.  They are a cooperative of trade unionists who have no interest in becoming employers and are committed to democratic workplaces which are owned by workers. They love the work they do and that enables them to provide quality construction and labour to their customers.

ECC will use the funds to develop a prototype tiny-house / backyard pod, as a way to relieve the housing affordability crisis. The structures will enable the expansion of low-cost accommodation options for growing families, homeless people or share-house occupants. After successful prototype construction, ECC hope to deploy the structures at scale, in collaboration with the Earthworker Smart Energy Co-operative. They’d be used as a way to develop ECC’s capacity, with the goal of becoming a builder for cooperative housing and provider of commercial construction services. Over the last couple of months ECC has been putting plans in place to construct the prototype in 2024 and have purchased safety equipment including first aid kits and a fire extinguisher in preparation.

You can read more about ECC by clicking here.