Page 2 THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 1977
Opinion/Commentary/Letters
Democratizing British industry
By RUDOLF KLEIN
LONDON — An angry debate is
urrently raging here over the latest
ttempt to prescribe a cure for Brit-
in’s chronic economic ills. The de
late goes to the heart of British de
mocracy, focusing as it does on the
tructure of power in the manage
ment of the nation s industrial
enterprises.
The furor was triggered some
weeks ago when, after a year of
tudy, an official committee rec
ommended that workers should
hare authority with their bosses in
unning major British industries —
ncluding the subsidiaries of U.S.
nd other foreign corporations here.
Headed by Lord Bullock, a dis-
inguished Oxford historian, the
'ommittee said that the innovation
vould “t^p the unused potential” of
Britain’s labor force. But dissenting
members of the 10-man group is-
ued a minority report denouncing
he plan as a move calculated to
trengthen the already influential
Iritish trade unions.
The prospect now is for a long and
jitter confrontation between the
_,abor government and its union al-
ies on the one hand, and the Con-
ervative party opposition and its
jusiness backers on the other. Thus
he lines are drawn between Brit
ain’s traditional protagonists —
hose who have struggled to win a
greater voice for labor, and those
who believe in the rights of capital.
The battle will be significant,
since it threatens to polarize the
contending elements on the British
political scene and thereby impede
the quest for solutions to the coun
try’s economic difficulties.
Partisans of the reform claim that
the Bullock recommendations
merely bury the obsolete business
theory that held that management’s
role was only to maximize profits
and dividends. Now, they argue,
management has a responsibility to
workers as well as to stockholders,
and this can be achieved by making
company directors accountable to
both.
Moreover, this thesis continues,
such a change would transform Brit
ain’s troubled industrial relations,
since labor representatives sitting
on a board of directors would iden
tify with the firm and therefore
encourage worker cooperation
rather than tolerate strikes, slow
downs and resistance to new
technology.
Management would, of course,
have to learn to rule by consent and
consensus. But, supporters of the
scheme submit, the advantages to
be gained through the collaboration
of labor are worth the sacrifice.
In addition, say proponents of the
program, the idea has already made
a good deal of headway throughout
Western Europe. Sweden and West
Germany, for example, long have
had workers serving as directors of
industry. And the European Eco
nomic Community Commission,
The Battalion
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United Press International is entitled exclusively to Cooper.
which is hardly a leftwing body, has
favored increased labor participa
tion in management for years.
The ferment here in Britain,
however, stems from two particu
larly radical features of the Bullock
committee report. It suggests, first,
that the trade unions control the
selection of labor representatives to
boards of directors. Secondly, it
recommends that workers and
stockholders share managerial au
thority on an equal basis.
These proposals reflect the fact
that trade union leaders and Labor
party sympathizers comprised the
majority of the Bullock committee,
which probably should have pro
duced an acceptable plan rather
than accentuating the obvious dif
ferences between labor and man
agement .
The question at present, con
sequently, is whether the govern
ment can come up with a com
promise that satisfies labor aspira
tions without alienating manage
ment.
One possibility would be to
modify the procedure for selecting
labor representatives so that the
trade unions play a less predomi
nant part in the process. Another
would be to adopt the West German
model, a two-tier system under
which workers sit on a supervisory
board that deals with broad policy
issues while the managers handle
the company’s day-to-day affairs.
So far, most of the trade unions
have indicated that they will reject
any dilution of the Bullock commit
tee recommendations. The business
community, meanwhile, has made
it clear that it does not consider the
Bullock proposals to be a foundation
for negotiations.
These positions have put the
Labor government on the spot. It
needs the unions, not only for polit
ical survival but for help in keeping
down wages in the war against infla
tion. At the same time, it needs
larger investments by industry in
order to stimulate the economy.
So the government cannot afford
to antagonize either side — and yet,
at this writing, it is hard to see how
it can placate one without irritating
the other.
Slouch
by Jim Earle
TO LEAVE EARLY BECAUSE MY GRANDMOTHER
REALLY IS SICK! I MEAN REALLY!”
Degree requirement
is there an alternative?
Editor:
Jeanne Graham’s letter in the
March 3 Battalion expresses the
widespread student view that col
lege grades have little bearing on a
student’s knowledge of a subject or
upon general intelligence.
I fully agree with Ms. Graham’s
position and would take it even one
step further—a college degree itself
is no unerring guide to an individu
al’s general knowledge or intellec
tual horsepower.
A person not enrolled in college,
but highly motivated toward learn
ing, could read every college text in
any chosen field in years less than
the four allotted. But how does such
a person in this situation demon
strate or prove he has done the
work?
The institutional setting of a uni
versity merely provides a “rec^
that certain minimum standaii
exposure to learning have been
and passed by graduates. Tk
ceipt is a state-embossed diplo®
And so it is with courseworlt
50-question objective testadmi
tered to a section of 100 stiiila
can even come close to
probing the student’s d
understanding. A passing stc
Ss
however, is the professor’s“ma but it
that a certain minimum stands
work — exposure — has been® Rush
It is a system, and not al
satisfactory system, to detenu beginn
who has done the work to qualiijl
a degree and who has not
Graham can suggest a better a
tern, I would he anxious
about it.
— Peter Alexis,
Resident supports park site
Editor:
I am responding to your article
published March 1, 1977 regarding
the park site in the Holik tract. I felt
Councilman Halter’s remarks were
sarcastic and misleading.
The fact is, there are no useable
parks in this district, within an ac
cessible service area, and none in
town that offer the unique factors
this land possesses. Additionally,
Dexter and Bee Creek Parks are ac
cessible only by crossing major
thoroughfares without traffic lights.
Anderson Street “park” is a vacant,
overgrown lot, on a creekbed, left as
unsuitable for development. It is
unusable to the public in its pres
ent state. As to school grounds, the
high school is over two miles round-
trip and, again, can only be reached
by crossing Southwest Parkway.
South Knoll School is the only area
nearby and offers nothing more than
open space, dirt and stickers; re
cently, children playing there after
school hours have been told to
leave.
The area in question may not be
an “ecological wonder” to Mr. Hal
ter, but it is a wonder there are such
areas left to enjoy, with public offi
cials who would share his apparent
“love of nature.” The area contains
an abundance of various forms of
wildlife and many beautiful
wildflowers, including our native
Bluebonnet.
Grades relative, no absolu
measure of knowledge
Editor:
It should be pointed out that five
years ago, the residents in this area
first petitioned the city to follow
through with its original plans to lo
cate a park here. It is regrettable
that such action was not taken at
that time; with subsequent in
creases in development and popula
tion in this area there is a definite
need for a park.
Councilman Jim Gardner’s views
also seemed to be misrepresented
in the article; he has, in fact, sup
ported the development of a park on
this site consistently and with de
termination.
Lynn Le Vine
I would like to express my dis
agreement with Thursday’s (March
3) letter to the Battalion editor
entitled “Grades do not Gauge
Knowledge. The text of the letter
disagreed with the concept ex
pressed in the professor’s quotation:
“Most of you are average students,
and average students should receive
an average grade.” I agree with this
statement completely.
And isn’t that what ci
about?
Certainly we are here to giii
education hut education
eludes learning about ourselvesi
our productive capabilities.Exl
us is being tested against our
students and the grades wera (j on (
The reason why so many of us are
dissatisfied with an average grade of
G is because we have been con
ditioned (in our first twelve years of
education) to think anything less
than an A was “below average. Ac
cordingly, average students like
myself have been unfairly receiving
A s and B’s all our lives.
I firmly believe that one produces
more when more is asked of him.
are relative to theirs.
It is a system based on indivifl
initiative and competition. Web
already proven ourselves “
average” by being here. Novi
best are being separated fromi
better.
The point to be madehereisi
grades in fact do not gaxq
knowledge hut rather allow
know where we stand with
ence to our fellow students,
next time you beat yourbraintt
to he in the 75 per cent ofthed
who get C’s don’t be disco
aged. . . . you are pretty
he here in the first place.
— Jerry James,
B]
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——JL—H'l.—— / ^ ANAGER/INSTRycTOR
In a deeper sense, though, this
debate over “industrial democracy”
mirrors the more profound stresses
and strains in British society today.
For the fight between labor and cap
ital is a variation of the class conflict
that has been going on in Britain for
a century — and that is far from
finished.
Klein, a senior fellow at London s
Center for Studies in Social Policy,
writes on social issues in Britain.
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