Vägen Ut! (the way out)

Sweden has a long history of successful cooperatives in various sectors like retail, housing, agriculture and insurance. However, worker cooperatives have had a less prominent role, despite their existence since the 1850s. Several factors contributed to this, including the consumer cooperative movement’s opposition, the labour movement’s preference for strong trade unions, and the lack of a specific legal structure for worker cooperatives. While the Swedish worker cooperative agency Coompanion estimates around 1,000 active worker cooperatives, many are small-scale. Recently, a surge in so-called “social worker cooperatives”, often categorised as work integration social enterprises, has emerged. These cooperatives focus on employing individuals facing barriers to employment, such as disabilities or discrimination, and reinvest profits into the business. The Vägen ut! cooperatives, established in 2002, exemplify this trend. They utilise a social franchising model, combining social goals with business acumen, resulting in 13 cooperatives offering diverse services and employing 109 workers. These cooperatives prioritise empowerment, worker participation and a child perspective, contributing to their success and low staff turnover. While facing challenges in business development and reliance on labour market policies, Vägen ut! demonstrates a model for sustainable worker cooperatives, highlighting the potential for growth and long-term impact.