• . . Defender of the faithful
Page 22
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THE TWO recognised ways by which the Government could have turned the NFC over to private enterprise might have had unwelcome consequences for employees. Peter Thompson found a third method in an approach described as "defensive". That it may be, but the consortium's commercial attitude is the very reverse and exhibits brisk confidence.
The directors believe that the NFC has passed through the worst of the recession and has emerged "with lower operating costs, reduced overheads and a smaller but more productive workforce." They also regard the prospects of renationalisation without compensation by a future government as remote.
This is to be no half-baked workers' co-operative but a highly professional exercise in industrial democracy. Daunting legal hurdles have had to be overcome to protect everyone's interests; the rest is up to the staff.