Worker Coops v Employee Ownership
Simon Ball (Blake House)
Public
Seen by 165
Maybe worth a discussion about the recent proliferation of employee ownership trusts and their promotion.
Broadly, I can see them as a kind of 'better' alternative to trad business organising, but am finding myself becoming more and more mystified as to why they get roped together with worker co-ops (and indeed dominate the 'start a worker coop' page on the coops uk website - bizarre).
Do we have any resources that can be pushed as an alternative to employers who want to hand over the keys? Presumably with furlough ending soon there may well be a deluge of companies that may find worker co-op conversion appealing.
Maybe we need to have something in place to counter all of this employee ownership cash/propaganda?
Is there something already in place?
Graham Thu 6 May 2021 8:20AM
At the very least the programme could have included a strand whereby the professional advisors are skilled up to understand what a worker co-op is? And where is the framework that advisors can follow to simply organise a conversion direct to a worker co-op?
Graham Thu 6 May 2021 8:22AM
"We dont have similar for worker coops, for various reasons none of which are insurmountable. Its commonplace in France, Italy, USA, Spain, to convert boomer businesses into proper worker coops. There hasnt been the committment here in the UK to make it happen like they have."
Why not? This looks like a huge strategic mistake.
matt wilson Mon 24 May 2021 5:28PM
Hi Steve - I'd be really interested in that!
Maggie Joan Haggas Tue 25 May 2021 2:46PM
About 20 years before I got old I began to research how walkers/cyclists' hostels and intergenerational housing co-operatives might support one another: My Olympic standard proclivity to procrastinate has not helped but I still haven't found a legal entity that would be suitable for 3ahh's project: https://www.facebook.com/3rdager. Please take a look at our Fb page and @3rdagehostels and let me know what you believe would suit us. We are based in the UK. I visited Barcelona with Cath from Radical Routes and few years ago and, if anybody knows her, I'm enjoying following Claire de la Lune's adventures on her Fb page; the last time we met was at a co-operative farm in Barcelona. Cheers from @3rdagers.
Cath M in Bentley (A Commune in the North/Radical Routes/Platform6) Sun 1 Aug 2021 2:26PM
hi everyone. James Wright (CUK policy officer) and I organised a study circle looking at co-operative business succession and the barriers to worker co-op buyouts. The 5th session will be on 26th August 9-10.30am, looking at the lack of worker agency in the narrative around buyouts and at the lack of worker confident/capacity. That session will be at https://rr.meet.coop/cat-0r5-itt-vad
Notes from the first four sessions, plus recordings and links to extra reading are here:
https://files.radicalroutes.org.uk/s/GaXZoeAsKogTqTs
A lengthy paper with policy asks has been drafted to input into CUK's strategy process - the legitimacy of the asks comes from individual and group endorsements and we are keen for anyone who's particularly supportive of CUK putting more resource into supporting co-operative buyouts to have a look, make comments and add their name to the bottom.
Deadline for comments & endorsements 6th August: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QlH7IGXdL8Unf8zGbh1dUWiOEurmYtksryp_8Y4kB1k/edit
There is potential for a development programme and possibly some kind of advisory group, it would be good to explore that further
Graham Tue 3 Aug 2021 8:27AM
A really important initiative. My only surprise is that it is only just happening now.
Sam Toland Mon 2 Aug 2021 1:51PM
Looks good.
Alex Bird Mon 2 Aug 2021 4:22PM
Excellent paper. So pleased to see this initiative going forward
Jenny Stein Tue 3 Aug 2021 7:07AM
Really pleased this work is being done. Thank you.
Ross Hodgson Tue 18 Oct 2022 4:10PM
The loomio update prompted me to this thread, which is obviously old but still relevant. Trying to use something negative to post something more relevant. Think within worker coops and the new federation, it'd be useful to focus on what we want/need. Within Coops UK this discussions has often been around the need to have a model that also gets the tax breaks that employee ownership gets, and campaigning for that. I think they will still do that, but not as a strategic priority.
What if we stopped thinking about the tax break situation, but just focused on the model that absolutely could ensure an owner could be paid out securely in handing over to the workers, but we were just open that actually this isn't as tax efficient, but it is better for the workers. Absolutely its great what Stephen and VME have done to push the barriers here, and we can learn from that. My feeling is we should focus, and ask a new worker coop federal, to focus on having a model to use, not the wider legal/political campaigning which is a waste of energy right now, and a distraction from having a set simple legal model/process, that EOT provides for employee ownership.
I realise you could equally say thats about financing as legal structure. Just feel we could have more wider success if we focused on what we had, not the possibility we might get the same finance breaks as EOTS, because we wont.
Graham · Thu 6 May 2021 10:33AM
Many thanks John for the clarification. I guess my frustration around this is that it seems to have taken so long to get to the point where a "worker co-op friendly EOT" is being developed. The current boomer bubble of business owners looking for exit strategies could be seen quite clearly years ago, and conversations about business succession have been happening for as long as I can remember. Better late than never I suppose.