CanWest newspapers printed the attack on Klein and Lewis’

by Hazel Corcoran, Executive Director, Canadian Worker Co-op Federation

Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis, Canadians who made the film The Take in 2004 about worker takeovers in Argentina, are at it again.

In their recent blog posting called "The Cure for Layoffs: Fire the Boss!", they passionately made the case for hostile worker takeovers as a response to the economic crisis. Although they mention worker co-operatives generally, their focus is on mainly on protests, "bossnappings", sit-ins and the like.

Evidently, they touched a nerve. Philosophy professor Joseph Heath wrote an opinion piece in response which appeared in at least four Canadian daily newspapers: "Economics for lefties: Co-ops sound great if you hate big corporations. Not so great if you care about how they work in real life".

Oddly enough, CanWest newspapers printed Heath's response without ever having printed the original Klein and Lewis article. Heath states that, "Klein and Lewis, I must admit, make me a bit crazy. � They blame problems on totally fictitious causes, then recommend solutions that are guaranteed not to work. Like co-ops. � Co-ops are not a 'cure for layoffs.' They cause unemployment."

Read the rest at:
http://www.straightgoods.ca/2009/ViewFeature.cfm?Ref=433&Cookies=yes