January 7, 2009 - By Steve Johnson

By Steve Johnson — YOU HAVE probably never heard of the Chinese firm Huawei, nor quite possibly of Shenzhen, the industrial city with more people than London in which it is based. Yet if you use the internet or a mobile phone, you use the network infrastructure boxes it makes. Marconi isn’t a British firm any more because Huawei beat the once proud British electronic giant for BT’s £10 billion network upgrade contract in 2005.

97,000 people work for Huawei, a 56% increase in the last 15 months. 43,000 of them work in research and development.  Its sales have rocketed by 490% in the past five years, compared to just 128% at its main rival Ericsson of Sweden (which gobbled up Marconi) , 109% at US giant Motorola and 93% at California-based Cisco. Profits last year rose 32% to $674 million on sales up 48% $12.56 billion.  Despite the global economic collapse, Huawei’s orders are expected to rise 44% this year to $23 billion (£16 billion) and the company is taking on, not laying off, workers.

So what is the secret of its success? Putting into practice British Nationalism’s alternative to Capitalism and global corporate greed, which is workers’ control and ownership of their workplace – the path a BNP Government would follow for our industries and enterprises, here in Britain.

Huawei – whose name means “Achievement for China” – was set up 20 years ago with money from Government, not banks and “money markets”.  And it was owned from the start not through shares owned by shady City institutions but by its own workforce. The firm’s founder, tough ex-soldier Ren Zhengfei, is rewarded for his clearly successful enterprise and drive by having a bigger share – but it’s only 2%. The rest is owned by the workforce. Who share in the profits they make, but must give up their share if they leave the firm. Thus the workers whose labour generates the wealth enjoy the fruits of their labours, and are motivated to get stuck in and make their employer a success – after all, its theirs!

The most prominent example of  workers’ control, High Street shopping chain John Lewis’s, is the most effective player in its field here. With sales crashing all around it, John Lewis has just reported a 1.2% rise in sales in the peak week of Christmas trading compared with the same time last year whilst its grocery arm Waitrose saw a 41% rise! Undoubtedly this is due to  the extra customer focus brought by workers who aren’t wage-slaves of  faceless corporations controlled by City sharks but partners working for their own business.

Huawei shows workers’ control works not just in the High Street but globally, and in the most high-tech cut-throat competitive market of all.  It proves there is an alternative to the Caplitalism crashing in ruins all around us.

Decades ago British Nationalists building on the British Distributists before them, began offering this radical third alternative to Marxist State ownership and Capitalist  City ownership of industry. Marxism has failed and now Capitalism is failing whilst our alternative is forging ahead. We have seen the future and it works – join us in making it happen!