Organised Labor Discussion

["Vic Thorpe" <just.solutions@pandora.be>]

Greetings, Fellow Labor Unionists,

Welcome to the ORGLABOR listserv of the Capital Ownership Group.

My name is Vic Thorpe and I have been asked by COG to act as a moderator for
this discussion.  Until the end of last year I was General Secretary of the
International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine & General Workers' Unions
(ICEM) - a global industrial union with its headquarters in Brussels,
Belgium - with which I have been connected for some thirty years.

For the past two decades I have observed the effects of onrushing
globalisation on trade unions and their members around the globe and tried
to formulate a strategic response.  More and more I have come to believe
that workers cannot expect to get a fair deal from capital while they remain
merely as hired hands.  It is past time that labor should hire capital and
not the other way around.

Ironically, a large part of the restructuring that currently wracks our
industries is being undertaken with pension funds that represent the
retained earnings of workers and their families.  Although there is some
welcome discussion about ensuring that these funds are not used to support
companies that abuse workers and defy human rights, the movement seems to
fight shy of tackling the big issue - why not use the money more directly in
our own interest?  Why not create new work that we ourselves can control and
whose purposes we can direct?  Why not, as the old anarcho-syndicalists used
to say, "build the new in the body of the old"?

This group will look at worker ownership in practice and its relevance to
strengthening trade union organisation in the face of global corporate
power.  We hope it will comprise mostly elected representatives of organised
workers at any level and those who advise and assist them as staff or
specialist consultants.  We hope to engage the interest of those who have
had direct experience of worker-owned companies of various kinds and who are
willing to share the lessons learned.  We aim to build a 'best practice'
approach to workers' capital ownership from both good and bad experiences.
We also hope to develop links inside the organised workers' movement that
can support its members in exploring new avenues for trade union leadership
in negotiating a positive shift in social control over the industries where
their members are employed.

HOW IT WORKS

Please get involved in the debate, whatever your viewpoint.  To send
messages to the entire list, just address them to orglabor@cog.kent.edu.

If you receive a message from this list and simply click the 'Reply' button,
your reply will automatically be sent to everyone on the list.  If you only
want to reply to an individual, you should type their specific address on
the "To:" line.  The purpose of the listserv, of course, is to share
information with as many people as possible and to get their feedback.

SUGGESTIONS FOR A STARTING POINT

1.  We need to draw up a list of priority issues to be tackled by this
group.  Please send your suggestions.

2.  We need to consider practical examples (both good and bad) of
worker-owned companies.  Please send in your own cases - as detailed as you
like.  If you know of items on the Internet that are worthy of study, please
copy the link in your message.  (I am appending one such link for interest
and by way of example).

3.  If you are currently involved in negotiating or considering a worker
buy-out, please tell us about your experience.  If you need advice or
contacts, this discussion might provide some useful links.  Feel free to ask
for advice; feel free to offer it.

4.  As we work our way through examples and debate, we will need to
determine the factors that lead to success and those that tend to failure.
We will always be on the look-out for ways to strengthen the union as a
central reference point in the development of worker-controlled
alternatives.

I hope for your interest and engagement in this discussion.

In solidarity,

Vic Thorpe