Championing the co-operative model | Letters
In the long read (There is now an alternative, 25 June) Andy Beckett repeats the canard that co-operatives are another form of capitalism. No they are not. In a capitalist business the owners, because they are protected by private wealth laws, take away a part of the value created and do what they want with it: hide it in tax havens, buy other businesses, spend it on megayachts.
Co-operatives are democratic. The workers and other members decide what to do with all the value they create. More is distributed in the community via higher wages and local purchasing, in most cases. The far higher level of engagement of worker owners in their businesses solves the "productivity deficit". Regions where co-operatives form a substantial part of the economy, such as Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, enjoy higher levels of community wealth. As they say in Bologna: "When 30% of the local economy is co-operative, capitalism has to behave itself", because there is an alternative.
Bob Cannell
Bradford, West Yorkshire