I’ve been thinking about Unions. For my money, the prolem is that they ultimately add nothing positive downstream. Even if the Union really is led by honest, hardworking, decent peeps, it’s not really adding anything that good or bad managers can’t do or botch up. Moreover, most Unions are not, in my opinion, particularly useful. I’ve never encountered one I trust to represent my interests, and it doesn’t really help with mass layoffs anyway. They all-too-often fall into strict disruptionist roles and actually screw me.
However, I had a thought. Why not create a Purchasing Union? Purchasing Unions would have a direct financial incentive in the company’s financial performance, because their members are stockholders as well as employees. Unio dues are smaller than normal, but in addition union members get an investing stock plan. Moreover, they can buy alternative insurance.
I envision a legal structure where companies could drop their own health plan by having a non-pre-vetted (that is, the insurer can’t cut people for not being “healthy enough” or whatever) insurance program through the union or something. There are complicted reasons for it but the short version is that this doesn’t “hide” health care costs as much from the worker.
I was wondering about something like this last week. Where I work, employees can sign up for an Employee Stock Purchase plan. Part of my paycheck goes to buying company stock, at a small discount. Now my 400 share isn’t going to give me much pull with the company, but if all of employees formed a voting block it would be enough shares to get the employees voices heard and paid attention to, at the investor level.
Is this something that is done in other places, and I’ve just never heard of it?
Companies typically issue millions of stock and keep millions in reserve. However, if you get enough people buying stock, they will run the company outright (assuming simple organizations and nothing too complex). Putting together a union implies a lot of formality. Calling it a league would make more sense. But, like I said, you all would be owners (or have enough controlling stake to do so) so you can pretty much do what you want.
The “League” probably wouldn’t have enough clout to control things outright. Even most businesses with employee stock ownership programs don’t seem to have this level of employee control, and I think the specific result under my plan would be no different.
However, having a large block of investors who are also employees conbined into one group does change things in some significant ways. Management, for example, will want to please the stockholders as a group, and problem managers can be dealt with by the employees. The League, however, doesn’t view the company as a cash cow to the be milked, and may even be concerned if the business is underperforming. After all, employee’s stock programs are money in the bank if they’re worth something. It also means that the League will push for things like employee training.
I wonder if you would get more employees buying and holding more stock, if there was some form of collective voting going on. Employees might view it as a way of having some say in the direction and future of their employers.
The biggest problem with employees purchasing large amounts of company stock is that it leaves those employees really vulnerable if the company falters. If most of your savings is tied up in the company if the company goes belly up you’re out on the streets looking for a job with no savings.