Re: Methodology for the future

Date: 1st Mar '02

Name: A Freedom Party Supporter

Perhaps you don't know much about the workings of multinational companies and blithely assume that ownership of a company is irrelevant.

You see if a company is British owned then it makes it somewhat more difficult for the owners and managers to shut down a factory if they decide it is slightly unprofitable or have their way with things all the time. As the owners and managers are British then they are under the full force of the British legal system which may make it difficult to get away with certain actions. Also it is easier for the government to intervene when things are not running well. As a result of this then trade unions do wield a certain degree of power.

With a foreign owned company the managers and owners are in countries on the opposite side of the planet and therefore totally exempt from British law or government intervention. If the owners decide to close the factory at the drop of a hat then their is bugger all the unions can do about it as the owners are not accountable to anyone except themselves and the government of the country in which they live.

In summary British trade unions are only effective within Britain and are only a threat to British management. They are totally ineffective and useless when it comes to dealing with matters in foreign countries.

It baffles me why British people with left wing viewpoints are so soft on the concept of foreign ownership when the country in which the head office is based is normally run by a very capitalist government. After all foreign companies don't go round setting up factories in Britain to create jobs for the British. They do so in order to make money for their bosses and shareholders back in the country where the head office is located.

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