English: It's a pleasure to be speaking in support of the Member for Ogmore's legislative proposal today. He's a passionate champion of co-operative principles. I want to put on the record my membership of the Co-operative Party and also my role as chair of the cross-party group on co-operatives and mutuals. In my contribution today, I want to briefly mention one very famous incident in my constituency that became the poster child for employee ownership. And, in many ways, the example I will mention is exceptional, but, in lots of others, it's emblematic of the transformational possibilities inherent in adopting a made-in-Wales Marcora law. And that example is Tower colliery. British Coal decided to close this last deep pit in south Wales in 1994, citing the dubious proposition that the mine was uneconomical. This led to a powerful backlash, a story that has been told elsewhere, perhaps most notably in the form of its own opera, but also in the MP for Cynon Valley Ann Clwyd's account of the struggle, including her famous sit-in deep underground. But British Coal was intent on closing Tower, callously putting people out of work, draining money from the local economy. However, within 10 days of the pit closing at the start of 1995, employees of Tower had put in place a bold and brilliant plan. Altogether, 239 miners, led by the National Union of Mineworkers and branch secretary Tyrone O'Sullivan, formed TEBO - Tower Employee Buy Out. Each contributed £8,000 from their own redundancies, enabling them to take over the colliery as a workers -
Welsh: Mae'n bleser siarad o blaid cynnig deddfwriaethol yr Aelod dros Ogwr heddiw. Mae'n hyrwyddwr angerddol dros egwyddorion cydweithredol. Hoffwn nodi ar goedd fy mod yn aelod o'r Blaid Gydweithredol, yn ogystal â fy rôl fel cadeirydd y grŵp trawsbleidiol ar gwmnïau cydweithredol a chydfuddiannol. Yn fy nghyfraniad heddiw, hoffwn sôn yn gryno am un digwyddiad enwog iawn yn fy etholaeth a ddaeth yn hysbyseb ar gyfer perchnogaeth gan weithwyr. Ac mewn sawl ffordd, mae'r enghraifft rwyf am sôn amdani'n neilltuol, ond mewn llawer o ffyrdd eraill, mae'n nodweddiadol o'r posibiliadau trawsnewidiol y byddai mabwysiadu cyfraith Marcora wedi'i llunio yng Nghymru yn eu darparu. A'r enghraifft honno yw pwll glo'r Tower. Penderfynodd Glo Prydain gau'r pwll glo dwfn olaf hwn yn ne Cymru ym 1994, gan nodi'r rheswm amheus fod y pwll glo yn aneconomaidd. Arweiniodd hyn at wrthwynebiad cryf, stori a adroddwyd mewn mannau eraill, yn fwyaf nodedig, efallai, ar ffurf ei hopera ei hun, ond hefyd yng nghofnod Aelod Seneddol Cwm Cynon, Ann Clwyd, o'r frwydr, gan gynnwys ei phrotest enwog o dan y ddaear. Ond roedd Glo Prydain yn benderfynol o gau pwll glo'r Tower, gan ddiswyddo pobl yn ddidostur, a gwaedu arian o'r economi leol. Fodd bynnag, o fewn 10 diwrnod ar ôl i'r pwll glo gau yn gynnar ym 1995, roedd gweithwyr pwll glo'r Tower wedi rhoi cynllun beiddgar a gwych ar waith. Gyda'i gilydd, aeth 239 o lowyr, dan arweiniad Undeb Cenedlaethol y Glowyr ac ysgrifennydd y gangen, Tyrone O'Sullivan, ati i ffurfio TEBO - Tower Employee Buy Out. Cyfrannodd pob un ohonynt £8,000 o'u tâl diswyddo eu hunain, gan eu galluogi i brynu'r pwll glo fel gweithwyr -