NationStates Jolt Archive

Category: Social Justice
Industry: All Business-- Weak
Proposed by: Commonalitarianism

International Worker Ownership Initiative.

1) This initiative is designed to increase awareness of forms of employed owned corporations, cooperatives, and other business
models. The initiative would be made available online and in print through a United Nations Initiative On Employee Ownership.

Goals:
A) To provide information on how to form ESOC-- Employee Stock Ownership Companies, Cooperative Stock Ownership Companies,
and Direct Union Ownership companies.

2) To provide government instituations the forms and procedures to do the following. This is informational, not forcing them to do these specific things.

A) Arrange for employees to buy closing plants which are relocating or shutting down.

B) Create a bidding process where employees can buyout bankrupted companies.

C) In times of government privatization create a process where employees of sold off government companies
can bid collectively to buy pieces of the privatized industries.

D) Help Floundering Firms by converting them from management owned companies to employee owned companies.

E) Allow governments to form indigenous tribal stock ownership companies.

This initiative is being supported by the International Ownership Bank of Commonalitarianism.

The suggester is:

Trade Delegate, Amara Cruon, Cruon Commercial House, Registered Family Syndicate

Although we do not have delegates to the United Nations. We wish to bring this up as a subject for debate and legislation for
someone for someone who does. We hope it will be debated.

Lots of goals, but what is this going to do?

Nothing.

I agree with cluichstan. Besides, I'm sure most democracies and some benovolent dictatorships allow such knowledge and actions to be leagl without question.

There are many fine suggestions in this proposal. I see it as potentially being a complementary partner for the 'UN Small Business Education Act' (OOC: or whatever it was called) and will give some thought to how it can be refined.

Lata Chakrabarti
Speaker to the UN

Considering that it doesn't actually force governments to grant any extra rights to their populaces, and tries to make creating companies [of a particular kind] easier, might it fit better as a 'Free Trade' measure?

Considering that it doesn't actually force governments to grant any extra rights to their populaces, and tries to make creating companies [of a particular kind] easier, might it fit better as a 'Free Trade' measure?
OOC: That's sort of counter-intuitive (this is, after all, a very left-wing ideal being expressed), but you may well be right.

You are right about this belonging in the Small Business Education Act. That is the point of this thing. To increase variety and options in industry.

1) Worker owned companies-- ESOCs-- Employee Stock Ownerships companies have been proven to year after year outperform traditional corporations by 2% in sales, and 2% in productivity. There is reduced workers compensation claims and lawsuits because the people who work in the company don't sue their own investment. They are more stable, and generally provide a higher wage for people who work in them. The small percentage may not seem like much in the short run, but in the long term it adds up considerably.

2) During economic downturns, employees are the first to go in most situations. In many cases the management should go before the employees go because they have mismanaged the companies. The opportunity to buyout closing plants, bankrupt corporations, or government privatization is a real benefit to the economy. It potentially stops industries from disappearing from your country-- the plant closes and it never revitalizes, or relocating to other parts of the world. The main problem with this is it often causes industrial stultification, less of a variety of industries, but more stable companies. This is reflected in my own simulated country by having one major industry-- the automobile industry, and not enough diversification.