Workplace Democracy: Between “New Work”and “decent labour”

Abstract

This contribution to the journal Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation engages with approaches to and prospects for workplace democracy. While the crisis of Western democracies currently identifies, democratic counter movements seem to spring from the world of work. Former senior managers are offering a spirited critique of current work and employment systems as these keep people in a state of “acquired immaturity” (Thomas Sattelberger). They call for the “democratic enterprise”, designed to be a new place of freedom. Employees are referred to as workplace-citizens, who should democratically decide upon issues traditionally far beyond their influence (i.e. election of management by work-teams, setting of pay rates and working-time, worker decision on place of work, and even product strategy). It is not exclusively agile frontrunners that promote “New Work”, reduce hierarchies, devolve responsibility and question status privilege. This contribution identifies the core ideas that make up recent concepts of work and organisation and engages critically with the underlying concepts of democratisation. We then turn to an alternative perspective on the issue of democracy at work. This is the perspective taken by trade unions, workplace representatives, and some consultants in the field of work and organisation. Current efforts to promote decent work link into former democratic traditions such as economic democracy and work humanization programmes in order to develop concepts of democracy at work in a global, digitalised market economy. Decent work programmes take worker’s subjectivities and the interests at work as their starting point. By extending worker participation at work, they unearth worker’s expert knowledge and creative skills. These forms of participation are an extension of traditional, representative workplace co-determination. Our contribution thus lets two traditions of work-democratisation enter into dialogue with each other.