Business
Ownership & Labor Day
Released on
= August 24, 2005, 9:56 pm
Press Release
Author = Robert F. Abbott
Industry =
Press Release
Summary = With working people becoming more involved in business
ownership, through their mutual funds and pension funds, should
we take a new look at the meaning of Labor Day?
Press Release
Body = Robert F. Abbott, author of the forthcoming book, Ownership
Revolution: How Working People are Buying Up Big Business, says,
"Traditionally, supporters mark Labor Day in the context of
labor versus corporations, as working people versus big business.
But, now that labor has become so involved in business
ownership through contributions to pension funds and mutual funds,
is it time to
think again, to celebrate something new?
"Over roughly
the past half century, working people have bought up a huge chunk
of big business. And union-sponsored pension plans rank among the
biggest institutional investors. Working people, both union and
non-union, now own a piece - and often a big piece - of just about
everything in business, from multinational corporations to
mini-malls down the street.
Abbott adds,
"If you're a working person who contributes to a pension fund,
mutual fund, or life insurance policy with a savings component,
you're one of the new owners of big business (and many small businesses),
too.
"That may
come as a surprise, since most working people contribute only modest
amounts to their retirement plans. But collectively, they more than
make up for that in the number of active contributors. If you're
still not sure, try this on your calculator: Multiply a contribution
of $1,000 per person per year by one million working people. Answer:
$1 billion dollars per year. Now note the existence of literally
hundreds of millions of working people here and in other countries.
And they're contributing new money every year.
"This shift
of business ownership from rich people to working people may be
the greatest economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution,"
Abbott notes, adding, "Management guru Peter Drucker has called
it 'The Pension Fund Revolution;' however, now that mutual funds
and insurance companies have also become major investors on behalf
of working people, I prefer to call it the "Ownership Revolution.
"So what
does all this mean? Well, for starters, it should lead to an end
of complaints about the profits of corporations and allegations
about 'greedy corporations.' After all, much of that profit now
goes toward the current and future retirement incomes of working
people.
"What's
more complicated, though, is the relationship between working people
who own a big company and other working people employed by that
same company. How to share corporate profits -- through continuing
employment and higher wages, or through
higher returns to shareholders -- remains a difficult issue. That's
especially true for those working people who lose their jobs.
"On the
other side of the coin," says, Abbott, "Working people
have bought enough stocks and shares to become bosses of the bosses
in many case. And some pension funds have begun making that clear.
CalPERS, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, has
led the way in telling Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and boards
of directors that they'd better manage effectively or else. And,
CEOs and
directors listen; after all CalPERS runs the country's biggest pension
fund, with assets of more than $189 billion on June 30th, 2005.
"What's
this all mean? Well," says Abbott, "If you go shopping
for Labor Day weekend sales, there's a chance you'll buy from a
business owned by yourself, your friends, or your neighbors. What's
more, the clerks who take your credit card with a smile may work
for you. Or, maybe the clerks own the company for which you work.
Smile at
them, too, just to be on the safe side!"
How and why
working people became owners of big business is the subject of Abbott's
forthcoming book, Ownership Revolution: How Working People are Buying
Up Big Business. Excerpts from the book can be read at http://www.TheNewOwners.com
.
Web Site = http://www.TheNewOwners.com
Contact Details
= 2125 Summerfield Blvd.
Airdrie, AB T4B 1X2
Canada
(403) 948-7774
Email: abbottr@managersguide.com
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