Worker cooperatives are firms owned and operated by their workers. In a world of skyrocketing inequality, they present a possible alternative to traditional firm organizations under capitalism. Various businesses have transitioned from traditional ownership to worker cooperative ownership, and the “silver wave” of older business owners looking to retire and sell their businesses presents an opportunity for more such transitions to take place. This capstone thesis examines the transition from traditional to worker ownership through four case studies compiled from semi-structured interviews. It investigates what is substantively different between cooperatives and traditional firms from a worker perspective, as well as how the process of transition effects the nature of the resulting cooperative. Case studies were examined with a particular eye for the impetus of the transition and the political consciousness, level of democracy, and material conditions of the resulting worker cooperatives.