In 1886, Chicago workers took to the streets of the Haymarket to demand something radical for its time: a say in the conditions of their own labor. Nearly 140 years later, the question has evolved — and it’s being asked again, right here in this city. If we care about where our products come from, and whether the people behind them were treated fairly, it’s worth asking the next question: what if those same people didn’t just work the business, but owned and governed it too?

That’s the idea behind Employee Owned