Comments on: Owning Upwards

By: Nina

Nina — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:35:50 +0000

“What they have done is simply formed a co-operative and there is nothing new in that Robert Owen and William Morris (to name a few) formed them in the 19th century.” – Drakula

You’re quite right. What’s new is that judges in Argentina are now prepared to award expropriation rights to workers who’ve managed to maintain occupation long enough. A key reason for this, in FaSinPat’s case, was that the factory had a history of community involvement and social work.

Something I left out – the workers are now legally required, as part of the expropriation contract, to list all the social and community projects they’ve got going in regular reports back to the provincial government. Community and social enterprise, indeed.

Also, running your own business during a global recession ain’t no picnic. Something else I left out – there’s a rumour on the streets of Neuquen that some FaSinPat workers are sick of being worker-owners and want the government to buy the factory. Some mana lost, sure, but at least wages would be regular…

By: Drakula

Drakula — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:26:13 +0000

What they have done is simply formed a co-operative and there is nothing new in that Robert Owen and William Morris (to name a few) formed them in the 19th century.

I would call it ‘social enterprise’ the enterprise operates much like business, but the workers are stakeholders so they get a share of the profits.
Wouldn’t it be a great incentive for everybody in the organisation? Workers slacking on the job? Not likely.

The above ceramics factory seem to be re-investing the surplus value into a more secure superstructure like schools, medical, dental, daycare and other social services. Very wise.

Governments should be supporting these initiatives but I am afraid that there are those who would see such enterprises as a threat and will try to divide them up and privatise them.

Would we get any prizes for guessing who they are?

By: Stanely Lucas

Stanely Lucas — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:15:57 +0000

One thing I have never understood is how workers buying out or taking over an abandoned factory-eyesore constitutes Socialism. Capitalism at its core isn’t about Wall Street but Main Street and the individual’s abilty to join with others and create buisnesses and jobs for their local communities.

By: mike bee

mike bee — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:58:24 +0000

Could this happen in NZ? The way people think in their habitual thought-forms seems all wrong – would unions have such vision? Where would the courage to stand up against the law come from? Have we got soft with all the welfare payments? There was no safety-net to catch the people who’d been laid off – maybe it’ll have to get that bad here before real creative solutions emerge. Thanks, Nina for the article.

By: Drakula

Drakula — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 10:18:31 +0000

That was really great news I only wish that this sort of thing happened in New Zealand. Now there there was a brewry on the West Coast (was it Speights or Monteiths?) that was baught out and move up to Auckland. that would have been an ideal oppoetunity to take the plant over and run it as a co-operative.

I say forget the Marxist ideology that just leads to dialectical contradictions that could only be resolved by a totalitarian dictatorship.
What is happening in Argentina seems to be the development of a more pragmatic socialism.

More importantly bosses and shareholders are out of the picture and workers have become stakeholders and benificiaries of the surplus value that has been re-invested into it’s infrastructure, like plant and machinary etc.

By: Kerry

Kerry — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:50:41 +0000

Hola, Nina!

Once more, you deliver a great story. Happy travels.