Call for workplace democracy

Since the beginning of capitalism, working people have been in an endless struggle with employers and capitalists over their wages, conditions, and quality of life. By virtue of their wealth, capitalists have, by their nature, had the upper hand, and only through fierce class struggle have working people won the rights they possess.

If nothing changes, this power imbalance will only increase when the 4th Industrial Revolution hits us. As employers automate more and more, the market value of labor will decrease. When an employer, in a saturated market, implements tools that increase productivity, the need for labor decreases, and they can reduce positions to increase profit. Although unemployment may not necessarily skyrocket, more people will need to find new jobs and will likely, in their desperation, have to accept lower wages and working conditions than before. If working people, however, were in charge, then the increased productivity of automation would be used to shorten the work week and improve the quality of life for employees.

Workers' Council xJ denies that wage negotiations need to be an eternal chase with employers over wages and conditions. The struggle for the interests of working people must not only revolve around collective agreements, but must also revolve around power. That working people have power over their own lives, their own work, and their own livelihoods. That working people are not dependent on the goodwill of capitalists or their bargaining position with employers.

Workers' Council xJ wants to legislate workplace democracy:where employees have the right to elect representatives to the boards of the companies where they work. To run a company, two things are needed: capital and labor. Today, only capital receives recognition for its contribution in the form of board membership. This needs to be corrected, and employees should be given the right to appoint half of the board members, alongside capital owners.

Workers' Council xJ wants employee cooperatives:companies that are collectively owned by all who work there and democratically managed. Laws on cooperatives are almost unusable for employee cooperatives as they do not account for the number of members influencing the operational conditions of the cooperative. In fact, it needs to be as easy to establish an employee cooperative as a private limited company.

Public awareness of such cooperatives needs to be increased, and labor entrepreneurs need to have easy access to capital to establish such cooperatives.