Report on profit-sharing and labour co-partnership in the United Kingdom

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1016336950

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-27123

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report on profit-sharing and labour co-partnership in the United Kingdom

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: His Majesty's Stationery Office

Year of publication:: 1912

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (160 Seiten)

Digitisation:: 2018

Collection:: Economics Books

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: IV. Conversion of ordinary businesses into co-operative societies

Collection:: Economics Books

BROWNFIELD’S GUILD POTTERY SOCIETY, LTD. 91 for the payment of the ordinary share capital remains.” The existing capital of the society is stated to consist of £6,690 deferred stock, £7,531 preferred shares, and £932 loan stock. The £6,690 deferred stock includes, in addition to the £6,000 belonging to Mr. Brownfield, £690 belonging to employees of the society. Of the 7,531 preferred shares, £251 belong to employees of the society, £1,410 to trade unions (£650 to the Pottery Hollow Ware Pressers’ Society, £500 to the Pottery Printers’ Society, £250 to the National Order of Potters, and £10 to the Bakers’ Society),. £1,760 to working potters employed in other w 7 orks and railway servants,. £650 to 25 co-operative societies, £23 to employees of co-operative socie ties, £125 to three customers of the Guild-Pottery society, £480 to persons who supply the society with raw materials, and £2,832 to the general public. The £932 loan stock consists, in part, of £200 advanced by two- managers of co-operative societies, and £50 advanced by a co-operative society, these loans carrying interest at 5 per cent., while the balance (£682) has been advanced without interest hy Mr. Brownfield, this sum including £282, part of his salary of £400 a year remaining unpaid. The total number of persons employed by the society is about 400, of whom 200 (not including Mr. Brownfield) hold stock or shares, all the 200 holding deferred stock, while 150 hold both deferred stock and preferred shares. The whole of the employees are expected before long to have become owners of at least £1 apiece of deferred stock, as they are taking up this stock by instalments; “ every week, when the workers are on full time, men pay 5 per cent, on their earnings and women 2^ per cent.” It is intended that the holdings of the employees in the deferred stock shall be increased until they amount in the aggregate to £2,000. The rules, provide that the net profits, “after providing for the interest and dividend upon any loans or deposits or guaranteed preferential shares,” shall be applied in reduction of the fixed stock and plant at specified rates, and in the reduction of any preliminary expenses, and then in the following manner: share capital is to receive a dividend of 6 per cent.; not less than 10 per cent, of the profits shall be carried to reserve until this fund amounts to 10 per cent, of the capital; not less than 2^ per cent, of the net profits shall be devoted to an education fund; the society’s subscrip tion to the Co-operative TJnion is to be paid; the committee may devote a certain part of the profits to an assurance and pension fund; then three-fourths of all remaining net profits shall go “to all the persons who during the period to which the division relates have been employed by the society for not less than six calendar months in the whole, the proportion of profits falling due to each person to be determined as the committee may fix from time to time ” (the bonus is at present arranged to be “ in proportion to the weekly wage ”), while the other fourth of the net profits is to go to the customers of the society. All bonus coming to- employees is to be in the shape of shares or payments on account of a share in the society. Mr. Brownfield is manager of the society, the rules providing that he can be removed only “ by the vote of five-sixths of all the members of the association and five-sixths of all the votes capable of being given at a special general meeting ”; he “ shall control all business carried on by the society, and engage, remove, or discharge, all assistant- managers, salesmen, or employees of every description,” &c., “ subject to the duty of regularly reporting all such acts to the com mittee.” His remuneration is determined by an agreement made between him and the committee, which was part of the conditions of the purchase of the business. The committee consists of 18 members, of whom 16 are persons employed by the society (including Mr. Brownfield, one of the travellers, the art director, the cashier, the stock-keeper, and several of the leading operatives) and two are representatives of Trade Unions (the National Order of Potters and the Pottery Hollow Ware Pressers’ Society). It appears that this undertaking has at its outset been considerably ham pered by having to contend with “ the prejudice of the former customers of the late firm, who object to the Guild-Pottery supplying co-operative distributing societies,” which has led to a falling-off in the trade done. The- profits did not suffice to permit of the payment of any bonus to employees in 1894. In 1895 they received a bonus at the

Access restriction

Copyright

fullscreen: Report on profit-sharing and labour co-partnership in the United Kingdom

Monograph

Chapter

Table of contents

Download

Monograph

Chapter

This page

Image fragment

Citation links

Citation recommendation