Workers' Control

Sun, 17/04/16

The Frontier of Control: a study in British workshop politics - Carter L. Goodrich

Download an ebook version of the classic 1921 work exploring the shifting frontier between executive control and workers' control.

In his classic work, The Frontier of Control, Carter L. Goodrich examined the workplace organisation amongst miners and others workers, as well as the growing syndicalism in the unions and the guild socialist movement, in the UK in the turbulent period of 1919-1920.  In this he identified the site of struggle around the frontier between management prerogative - or 'complete executive control' - and full workers' control. read more »

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Sun, 17/04/16

Carter L. Goodrich

The Frontier of Control

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Mon, 25/01/16

OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL

Bring back the Institute for Workers’ Control

The movement for workers’ control in the 1970s was among the most promising of the many roads not taken in the forgotten history of the left.

 

 

 

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Wed, 20/01/16

Cooperatives and workers’ control in 20th century Greece

A historical overview of the rise and decline of the farmers' cooperative movement in Greece, as well as some early examples of worker-occupied businesses before the turn of the century.

The ensuing excursus in the history of farmers’ cooperativism and workers’ participation brings into visibility a variety of partly non-capitalist processes of collective self-activity in Greece. These have operated alongside and intertwined with a state-dominated market economy involving a multitude of small business, an under-industrialised production and a large service sector (commerce, tourism, finance, etc.). Taking our cues from the constructive critique of ‘capitalo-centrism’ put forward by Gibson-Graham, we adumbrate here the historical contours of a heterogeneous economy which is not fully captured by any single logic, global force or sovereign structure. read more »

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Wed, 06/01/16

The Institute for Workers’ Control

A chronicle of the founding of the IWC in the 1960s, at a time when major trade union struggles were being waged against a capitalist reorganisation involving mergers, takeovers and closures.

In the year 2003, Ken Coates collected together and had published a number of articles which he had written in the 1960s and 70s on industrial democracy and entitled the book, Workers’ Control – Another World is Possible. He obtained contributions from the newly elected leaders of two of the largest unions, Derek Simpson of the Engineers’ Union and Tony Woodley of the Transport & General Workers, together with supporting introductory messages from five other unions, the journalists, the firemen, the communications workers, the bakers, and public and commercial services unions.

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Wed, 06/01/16

The Way Forward to Workers' Control

This is the first in a series of pamphlets published by the Institute for Workers Control since the late 60s, arguing in favour of the workers assuming control of the british industry.

The whole question of workers' control is once again becoming an important issue in the British Labour Movement. In some ways, the situation today is analogous to that before the First World War. Expansion of Industry, coupled with inflation, in the years up to 1914, provided the basis for aggressive union action and the growth of ideas concerning workers' control, culminating in a historic pamphlet, the 'Miners Next Step'. It provided the impetus for the growth of the Shop Steward Movement, which arose during the war years itself. read more »

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Fri, 01/01/16

On cyber syndicalism: From Hacktivism to Workers’ Control

Cyber activists need to devote more attention to direct action in tech workplaces and organized efforts toward workers’ control.

Alternative globalization movements in the global North, from their high point in the Quebec City mobilizations against the Free Trade Area of the Americas in 2001 to the present, have been faced with the challenge of rebuilding and finding new ground on which to re-mobilize since the political reaction set in following the 9/11 attacks which derailed momentum and caused many mainstream elements (especially labor unions) to disengage and demobilize (where not playing to the forces of “law and order” reaction). read more »

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Fri, 01/01/16

The Commune: Paris 1871

A 1971 libertarian appraisal of the Paris Commune by members of Solidarity UK.

We can now examine the Paris Commune in a new light - in the light precisely of the rich experience of Bolshevism and of Trotskyism. We mean, more specifically, in the light of their failure. Stated more concretely, the proletarian revolution of 1871 must now be re-evaluated in the light of the degeneration of the Russian Revolution and of the positive lessons of the revolutionary struggle of the Hungarian Workers' Councils in 1956 against a bureaucratic society in which the means of production were completely 'nationalised'. read more »

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Wed, 30/12/15

Proletarian Power: The Turin Factory Councils 1919-1920

The Bienno Rosso, the two red years which threatened to overthrow Italian capitalism, represents one of the high points of working class struggle in the history of the world labor movement.

The Turin Factory Council movement which emerged at the height of the Bienno Rosso, the two red years which threatened to overthrow Italian capitalism, represents one of the high points of working class struggle in the history of the world labor movement. read more »

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Wed, 30/12/15

Inside America's Largest Worker-Run Business

Can workplace democracy pave the way to better conditions in low-wage industries? For home care aides, the results of one 30-year experiment are mixed.

Fifteen years ago, Clara Calvo had just left her husband and her job. Both were abusive in their own ways. Her husband beat her, while her job at a beauty salon required long, unpredictable hours for little pay. read more »

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