Workplace Co-determination In the UK

What if there was workplace co-determination in the UK?

By this I mean a system where the boards of major companies have employee representation on them.

Usually the system is that between 30% and 50% of the board is elected by workers. The chairperson is elected by management and keeps a casting vote (in system where representation is otherwise 50/50).

Systems such as these are very common in Germany, Austria and in a very modified form in some Swedish firms.

What POD is required for this to occur in the UK?

How would it affect UK politics and the economy?
 
What POD is required for this to occur in the UK?

Erm... The modern co-op movement originated in the UK! Rochdale Pioneers and all that...

Even today we have John Lewis as a major retailer owned by its 'partners'. Now how to make it more widespread? Getting a Radical Government in the late 19th century might help. Hm, successful Chartists maybe?

Also, 500th Post! :D
 
Erm... The modern co-op movement originated in the UK! Rochdale Pioneers and all that...

Even today we have John Lewis as a major retailer owned by its 'partners'.

As well as... you know... The Co-op itself.

Ahyes, the 'Waitrose Partnership'. I was a 'partner' when I worked there part-time once, it never seemed to be different to any other supermarket job, I don't see what's supposed to be different. Maybe I missed something.
 

Thande

Donor
This is a bit topical, now that the Conservatives have endorsed the idea of Co-op and appear to be trying to tempt the Cooperative Party away from Labour (without much success so far, though). And even in America there are a lot more co-op businesses than there used to be.
 
Co-ops were quite widespread in Britain in the 1950s but on a relatively small level.

Say the Labour Party is influenced more heavily by Coop Party and Fabian Society members and less by pro-nationalisationists, Keynsians and the TUC.

As someone involved in a coop small business, this is an interesting idea for me, and much to my dispair the one hope I had in Gordon Brown was his Coop Party membership would see him go through with suggestions to offer loans and legislation to enable greater levels of employee shareholds and control.

Say Hugh Gaitskell wins the 1959 General Election for the Labour Party, weakening the left of the party. Although its doubtful he would have managed to remove Clause IV, he at the very least would have seen to a major shift to the centre and in the face of "Bevanite" nationalisation with Labour still having a very strong sense of social justice, worker's rights, mixed with a more market orientated economy, I can see small coops, employee shareholder groups in bigger business, etc. being far more encouraged.

Ironically this would probably lead to a breakaway Socialist Labour Party by the 1980s, ah well :rolleyes:
 
This is a bit topical, now that the Conservatives have endorsed the idea of Co-op and appear to be trying to tempt the Cooperative Party away from Labour (without much success so far, though). And even in America there are a lot more co-op businesses than there used to be.

I didn't realise it was a party too! Just thought it was a bunch of shops and such... :eek:

They ever had any MPs?
 
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