Woolies - a workers' co-op?
Monday, December 01, 2008
Ardeshir Naghshineh, millionnaire owner of Centre Point, is trying to line up an employee-owned bid for Woolworths, according to the Sunday Times. It's an interesting development, although it's frustrating that these ideas always arise when a company is doing badly. Why can't we hand Walmart to the workers, not just Woolies?
But it could work - Tower Colliery was born out of troubled beginnings after all. Actually the Employee Ownership Association has just published a big report pointing out that employee ownership isn't just good for the high street, it could improve our public services too. As outlined in the Guardian last week, "The most important strength of co-owned organisations is their open, egalitarian culture, which encourages the lateral communication that allows people to combine their ideas easily, seek partnership with customers, and mobilises the 'can-do' commitment needed to turn ideas into action. Staff in these organisations, because they are co-owners of the business and so have more freedom to respond, often speak of "going the extra mile" for consumers."
These type of organisations are already running services - Greenwich Leisure and Sunderland Home Care not least. They provide a real alternative model to the Capita's and the Serco's: one which could be rooted in communities, involve their workers and above all provide quality of service for best value. "As politicians cast about for new recipes for less bureaucratic, more localised, personalised approaches, co-owned public service organisations should be part of that mix because they do something really potent: they motivate frontline staff to want to deliver a better service."
The whole report is online.
But it could work - Tower Colliery was born out of troubled beginnings after all. Actually the Employee Ownership Association has just published a big report pointing out that employee ownership isn't just good for the high street, it could improve our public services too. As outlined in the Guardian last week, "The most important strength of co-owned organisations is their open, egalitarian culture, which encourages the lateral communication that allows people to combine their ideas easily, seek partnership with customers, and mobilises the 'can-do' commitment needed to turn ideas into action. Staff in these organisations, because they are co-owners of the business and so have more freedom to respond, often speak of "going the extra mile" for consumers."
These type of organisations are already running services - Greenwich Leisure and Sunderland Home Care not least. They provide a real alternative model to the Capita's and the Serco's: one which could be rooted in communities, involve their workers and above all provide quality of service for best value. "As politicians cast about for new recipes for less bureaucratic, more localised, personalised approaches, co-owned public service organisations should be part of that mix because they do something really potent: they motivate frontline staff to want to deliver a better service."
The whole report is online.
Labels: business, employee ownership, local shops, Woolworths
6 Comments:
commented by 
Charlie Marks, 9:41 PM
Charlie Marks, 9:41 PM
I'm not sure co-operatives function solely on profit making: and anyway, from a purely Marxist point of view... well, I thought the root of the problem was in the application of the labour theory of value!
Employee ownership in the public sector creates an incentive to invest cash wisely and gauge the needs of users effectively so that they can be effectively planned against.
Top down nationalised models lack this incentive to measure, at least, they do in my view.
Employee ownership in the public sector creates an incentive to invest cash wisely and gauge the needs of users effectively so that they can be effectively planned against.
Top down nationalised models lack this incentive to measure, at least, they do in my view.
I agree that it would not be desirable to see a return to bureaucratic forms of public ownership - Morrisonian nationalisation, with the old management being retained and the old undemocratic mode of operating. Nor is it desirable to continue having both service users and workers locked out of decision-making processes in public service provision.
I would argue that ownership of public services must be collective - either at a national or municipal level. Employee ownership schemes are more suited to manufacturing, retail, agricultural and retail sectors of the economy.
I would argue that ownership of public services must be collective - either at a national or municipal level. Employee ownership schemes are more suited to manufacturing, retail, agricultural and retail sectors of the economy.
It does not look like any bid - let alone a co-operative one - is going to save Woolies.
While I do not suggest public money should prop up this ailing giant, it will be missed by rural and small towns.
While I do not suggest public money should prop up this ailing giant, it will be missed by rural and small towns.
For sure, the thousands of Woolies workers will miss it, too. The government will be paying many of them benefits until they can find new jobs - of which there isn't much hope in the current climate. Consumers might miss it too, if it means less competition on the high street...
I don't think the competitive presence of Woolies has been felt much - except in the last few weeks during the close-down sale when its impacted margins at other toys retailers like Argos.
I strongly disagree with employee share-ownership in the public sector, though.
Public services should not focus on profit-making, and so greater democratic participation by staff and service-users would be prefereable. For those services that are currently contracted-out to private companies, employee-buyouts would be a positive development however - but not for existing publicly-provided services.
If I'm honest, I think that the suggestion of employee-ownership schemes in the public sector is a sweetner for the attempts to privatise the welfare state planned by Blairites like Alan Milburn.