RE: In a Global Economy, Labor needs employee ownership to anchor capital - Is Worker Ownership just Small-Time Self-Exploitation?

[jdoggett <jdoggett@kent.edu>]

Deb Olson wrote:
I differ with Joe Doggett on his analogy of food coops and manufacturing. I 
have been talking with various people at the UAW for years about the potential 
benefits of employee ownership. They have attempted it at occasional parts 
plants, or non-auto related plants, but have always opposed it regarding the 
auto industry. Their reason - so much capital is needed in the auto industry 
that any thinly capitalized company is doomed. It is interesting to see that 
Ford, which invested in people in the 1980's, when it was too poor to invest 
in equipment (as GM did) is the strongest of auto companies now.


I think that we differ not.  The point and the example should be viewed as 
separate.  The point is that car manufacturers, or any company that is engaged 
in a high-earning sector of the economy, have more money in which to disperse 
to labor.  Coops generate fewer profits, and other such places that generate 
low profits, and are  less likely to provide higher wages.  I agree with you 
in that the car manufacturer must have huge capital investments at the 
beginning in order to begin production.  Labor as a capital resource may be 
limited.

Sincerely,
Joseph