EFES NEWSLETTER - APRIL 2010
Democratizing
employee ownership
Every large European company has 4 Top Executives
on average,
each holding 6.475.000 € in his company in 2009.
Most large
European companies have now employee share plans.
Most of
them express the idea that employee ownership
should be
increased in order to align employees and
shareholders'
interests. However, most companies began with
share plans
for Top Executives. This is to be compared with
9.3 million
common employee owners, each holding 10.000 € in
2009. Many
discussions occurred recently about Executives'
remunerations.
What about ownership? More
Employee
shareholders rights in European companies
Which are the good practices? Which models,
which obstacles
across Europe? Could it be more effective? A
European Report
will be written with the support of the European
Commission
and a European Conference will be held in Rome on
September
16-17, 2010. It will contribute to open a new door
for social
dialogue and corporate governance items. Here the new
dedicated website
Press
review
Due to changes in Google formats, this press
review
is now much more difficult and we missed a lot of
information,
especially in Spanish and in German languages. We
are looking
for new solutions. This is why we have only 1.016
articles
in this press review in March 2010 (on which 429
involving
stock options and 121 about workers'
cooperatives). We made
a selection of 50 remarkable articles in 10
countries:
Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Kenya,
Switzerland, UK,
USA, South Africa, Zimbabwe.
Australia:
Possible employee buyout in the meat industry -
Australian
Employee Buyout Center at work.
Canada:
Proposed changes in stock options taxation. The
Steelworkers
union is involved in an ongoing study to see if an
employee
buyout of the Tembec paper mill would be feasible.
France:
Several employee buyouts at various stages,
successfully
or not. New employee share plan for Schneider
Electric.
It is remarkable that the three world's leading
companies
in the heavy construction industry are French,
with employees
owning 9% of Vinci, 18% of Bouygues and 33% of
Eiffage.
Strategic position for employee ownership in
Essilor. Strange
conflict about employee ownership in Total.
Italy:
Happy end with the transposition of the McCreevy's
Directive
about shareholders rights in Italy – a success for
Italian
employee shareholders' associations.
Kenya:
Equity Bank is set to establish an Employee Share
Ownership
Scheme, 5% of the bank’s total shareholding will
be released
to employees.
UK: Tories plan to use employee-owned
co-operatives
to shake up public services reflects a realisation
by politicians
and civil servants that employee-owned firms are
not the
Soviet kolkhozes of lazy stereotype, but are valid
forms
of commercial enterprise. Is John Lewis the best
company
in Britain to work for? It is owned by its
employees who
have a say in how it is run, and receive a share
of the
profits. Transparency asked about the UK Employee
Ownership
Index, showing that employee-owned companies
outperform
those from the FTSE all-share index. Possible
employee buyout
for Preston bus company.
USA:
Will employee ownership be the base of a new
communitarianism?
ESOPs on the rise among small businesses. A new
study shows
that, in the most recent economic recession,
companies owned
by their employees through employee stock
ownership plans
(ESOPs) demonstrated considerable resilience and
performed
better than other companies in providing for
workers' retirement
security, job creation, and revenue growth.
Zimbabwe:
Indigenisation Regulations encourage employee
share ownership
schemes.
The full press review is available
on:
http://www.efesonline.org/PRESS
REVIEW/2010/March.htm
|
A
political roadmap for employee ownership in Europe
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