|
EFES NEWSLETTER - OCTOBER 2022
|
Controversy
in employee share ownership
|
|
We
know that the results of employee share ownership are
beneficial. This is a proven fact. However, employee
share ownership takes many forms (there are about ten
basic models).
The ideological and political origins of employee share
ownership are even more diverse. The review of the supporters
of employee ownership ranges from Margaret Thatcher
to Ronald Reagan, Charles de Gaulle, Karl Marx to Michel
Bakunin. And as for the opponents, they can be found
just as easily in the ranks of anarchism, Marxists,
Gaullists, ultra-liberals and conservatives. Of course,
we can also put Donald Trump in both camps.
As for us, we have to differentiate between fact and
fiction, motivations, interpretations, ideologies and
particularities as much as possible.
Never before has the distribution of wealth or the ownership
of companies been so democratised as it is today. Billions
of people around the world have access to it today through
banks, pension funds, investment funds and others.
In comparison, employee share ownership remains relatively
less widespread.
There is a growing controversy about this, especially
in the United States (see this month's press review).
It originates from the increasing choice of major private
equity funds to include a share for employee ownership
in their financial plans. The KKR fund and its leader
Pete Stavros express this strongly (“Greater
employee ownership can make work fairer”).
On the other hand, historical supporters of employee
share ownership view this willingness to participate
in the financing of employee share ownership in a negative
light. They see it as an intrusion. They argue against
finance, for a return to community spirit, to local
roots. Corey Rosen, the founder of the central organisation
for employee ownership in the United States, the National
Center for Employee Ownership, expresses this view
in a new book (Ownership: Reinventing
Companies, Capitalism, and Who Owns What). A
must-read.
|
Press
review
We
have a selection of 34 remarkable articles in 6 countries
in September 2022: Spain,
France, Ireland, Italy, UK, USA.
France:
Complaint in court at EDF. New employee share plans for Engie,
for Léon Grosse, for Veolia Environnement, Michelin, Capgemini,
Valeo, Spie. Receivership for Scopelec, the largest workers'
cooperative in France. Involving employees in corporate governance,
a French (and not German) invention.
Ireland: Ireland lags behind rivals for employee share
schemes.
Italy: The various forms of employee share ownership.
Spain: New employee share plan for Michelin.
UK: Every day a new SME is transferred to employees.
This month, among others, the cases of:
Highland Ecology and Development, Shuttle Buses, Britsafe,
ShapeBlue. Share options explained: the essential guide for
UK startups.
USA: What is an ESOP? Can employee ownership help save
capitalism from itself? Employee ownership programmes are
gaining traction in the private equity industry.
The full press review is available
on:
http://www.efesonline.org/PRESS
REVIEW/2022/September.htm
|
A
political roadmap for employee ownership in Europe
The
EFES needs more members. Download the EFES membership form
What's
new on the EFES website?
EFES NEWS
distribution: 200.000
|
