Merits to worker ownership

NEWS that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) is being asked by its members to bid for ownership of some of Anglo American Platinum’s assets is easy to dismiss but it is worth noting and pondering over.

Our history of labour strife in mining and other sectors is partly driven by a lack of a sense of ownership by workers of the companies that employ them. Wage negotiations inevitably become a fierce exchange where each side tries to get as much as possible out of the other, for as little as possible.

This comes at a cost. Despite the existence of rules and systems to ensure there is as much information-sharing as possible, employers and workers can never trust one another as much as they would if there were genuine shared ownership of the affected assets.

While trade unions are not there to run businesses, we have had enough strife without any sustainable solutions to make it foolish not to consider alternative models of cooperation. Worker ownership of the companies they work in is highly unconventional but certainly not unheard of.

The questions such a decision would hinge on, however, is how the union would manage the conflict between being a wage negotiator and shareholder, and whether the management of those mines would be allowed to make independent decisions, including turning down requests for higher wages or benefits when they became detrimental to the company when it is unable to turn a profit.

The violence during the recent platinum strike calls for caution, but it should also lead us to chart unknown paths to look for new solutions.

There is a growing view that capitalism needs to reinvent itself in order not to succumb to cynicism and disillusionment with pervasive weaknesses. Restructuring workplace relationships, or even encouraging workers to invest in assets that produce their salaries, forms part of that reinvention, and must be encouraged.

Amcu still has to answer questions about its ability to service its members effectively by building a sound institution. Doing so and demonstrating maturity in negotiation would go a long way towards developing an image as a trustworthy negotiating partner, and maybe owner of assets.