Community Savings Grows its Cooperative Banking Unit with the addition of Vancouver’s first and largest cleaning co-op
December 11, Vancouver / Unceded Territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations - Today, Community Savings a BC-based credit union is proud to announce the addition of The Vancouver Cleaning Cooperative (The Cleaning Co-op) to its cooperative banking unit. The Cleaning Co-op is the first and largest cleaning cooperative in the city.
The Cleaning Co-op selected Community Savings’ banking and financial services as a values-aligned partner, recognizing the role credit unions play in driving systemic change and addressing inequities in the financial services ecosystem.
With Community Savings, The Cleaning Co-op benefits from current market cooperative interest rates, changeover of signers on account without branch visits, lending tailored to their needs and other personalized services.
Hayley Postlethwaite, Co-Founder of The Vancouver Cleaning Cooperative, said "Partnering with a values-aligned community bank like Community Savings Credit Union has been transformative for us. Their understanding of our needs and unwavering support for our business model have been instrumental in our growth. With their flexible line of credit, we've been able to expand our operations confidently, without the financial worries that often plague small businesses. It's more than just banking; it's a true partnership built on shared values and mutual respect."
Dynamic and socially conscious, the Cleaning Co-op is co-founded by three women from different backgrounds that share the same experiences and barriers of exploitation, discrimination, patriarchy, and the challenges of capitalism. Recognizing the systemic issues that affect many women, especially those from racialized backgrounds, they expanded their cooperative to include other women facing similar oppressive circumstances.
To address these challenges, the Co-op set off on a mission to offer living wages, non-exploitative employment and a platform women and new-comers to Canada can use to spring forward.
Raj Khunkhun, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships of Community Savings Credit Union, said "Working with The Vancouver Cleaning Cooperative embodies our commitment to the cooperative movement's power. Community Savings is honoured to partner with such an impactful organization and support its growth plans.”
The partnership between Community Savings Credit Union and The Vancouver Cleaning Cooperative is founded on shared values of equality, commitment to paying living wages, and the empowerment of communities. Community Savings Credit Union, a proud Living Wage Employer, supports local programs and organizations that align with these principles. They offer affordable financial products and trusted services designed to meet the needs of the working community.
About Community Savings:
Community Savings Credit Union is driven by its purpose to unite working people to build a just world. As BC’s largest fully unionized credit union, Community Savings provides best-in-class personal and business banking.
Community Savings operates seven branches across the Lower Mainland and Victoria. It lives by its values, from being the first financial institution to become a Living Wage employer in 2010 to winning the 2022 BCBusiness Business of Good Workplace Wellness Award for its innovative staff wellness programs. For more about Community Savings, visit www.comsavings.com.
About The Vancouver Cleaning Cooperative
The Vancouver Cleaning Cooperative (The Cleaning Co-op) was founded out of our lived experiences of exploitation, discrimination, patriarchy, and capitalism. We started as three women who wanted to do better for ourselves and for others in the cleaning industry. We are establishing ourselves as an equitable and empowering employer and paying living wages. We want to set an example of how a worker’s cooperative can thrive as a profitable and equitable enterprise, even in an industry built on exploitation.
Media Contact:
Yulu Public Relations
cscu@yulupr.com
