>> expand the coop model by associating it more closely with unions.
A receipt for disaster. Some European states had this models in the past and completely abandoned them.
In the latter case in Germany every large enough commpany has to have a democratically elected workers council, that gets a seat on the board. While not the same as co-ownership, this democratic co-determination is arguably one of the more important reasons why labor relations in Germany are much better than in other European countries.
France on the other hand has had a minimum wage for a long time and a 35 hour work week. To me it isn't so clear who is doing a better job.
But clearly French unions are not afraid of confrontation.
But yes, enforcing the voice of the worker in the Board is likely to be a major win all round for Anglo-Saxon English companies. One I would happily support.
I don't think the model that works in Germany (unions having a significant representation on the board) would work with UK/US-style adversarial unions. Volkswagen tried - and their US employees weren't interested (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/02/14/vw-worke...)