How to co-operate
WORKERS' co-operative — is that another of those expressions which mean their opposite? It"does not have to be. It is a misfortune that the idea has been tar- nished — first, by political patronage, under a previous government, for ventures with nothing to recommend them except a brief excursion into the headlines; and secondly, by a sad propensity for chasing losers father than letting winners run. Co-operatives are conjured into action when a business is on its beam ends, and the workforce pour in their savings in the hope of preserving their jobs. Alas, it is inherently likely that they are backing a dud, in which case they will have lost their savings just when they need them most. There have been woeful cases, the most recent on Tyneside only the other day. Job Ownership Limited is a company set up with backing from the Rowntree trusts, and committed to the proposition that people ought to be able to hire capital, instead of its always being the other way about. The showcase exhibit is National Freight. Employee Ownership? Why? How? (Job Ownership Ltd, 9 Poland Street, London W1, £10) is a short and
practical guide to the structure, the pro- ! cess, the law, the tax — and the right sort of candidates for success. National Bus should produce plenty of them, if ministers do not lose their nerve. Of course it would be easier to sell 49 per cent of the thing to a group of pension funds, headed, no doubt, by the Post Office's — but it would not have much to do with popular capitalism or personal ownership.
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