RE: British Miners Cooperative

[James Lawler <phijiml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The article states that the Tower example has raised hopes in the South
Wales area.  Weren't the miners up against the a kind of a priori
defeatism in connection with the idea of buy-outs?  I understand that
Labor Party policy has been to support such efforts.  Is this still the
case?  Wouldn't a Labor Party government that supported cooperatives make
such an approach more likely to succeed?

Best wishes,

James Lawler

Philosophy Department
SUNY Buffalo
Buffalo, N.Y.  14260
Tel: 716-645-2444x770
Fax: 716-645-6139
phijiml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On Fri, 19 Jan 1996 wdrb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> The heart warming story of the success of the Tower
> colliery co-op reminded me that one of the things
> (of many) that made me most bitter during the strike
> (84/85) was the Guardian's craven refusal to support
> the NUM or take a line in opposition to the rest of the
> media. The failure by the soft left middle classes represented
> to support the miners was despicable, these people were
> comforted in their betrayal by their favourite newspaper -
> the Guardian. So in a way i wish they hadn't printed the story
> about Tower - it obscures their previous abandoment of the miners.
> One successful co-op is small compensation for 100+ pits being closed.
> There are still unemployed miners begging on the streets of Bristol.
> BTW - although the Tower story is heartwarming (and Tyrone O'sullivan
> is a real hero) there are doubts about the viability of co-ops in
> most market conditions to deliver less exploitation than competitor
> enterprises.
>
> If i've been hard on the Guardian i apologise but thats my memory of it.
>
> will brown   bristol  england
>


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