If we look closely, there is a dissonance on display. We, the people, are being sold the lie that the values of the wealthy are the same as ours. But what’s on offer does not reflect reality.
Unions are good but I think it’s important to think big: we already have existing structures today that go beyond unions. Many know what coops are through for example credit unions, but a lesser known thing is works councils. In Europe, we have laws that mandate that workers are to represent a certain percentage of the board (leadership) of a business:
Slovenia, Germany and Slovakia have 33%-50% of the board be elected workers. Norway, the Czech Republic, Austria, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, and Sweden are at 33%. Finland is at 20%. The variation comes from whether a company is public or private, with a bias towards higher representation for public ones, and usually with minimum employee quantities before the law kicks in.
But the bottom line is that Europe in a very important way has democracy at work already, even if it’s not 100%, and it exists in addition to unions and coops. This is an often overlooked element that we should be demanding - and we have practical, real life examples to point to.
Another lesser known element is one that Sweden in particular has that is a big reason its union density is so high: a ghent system.
This is a way to encourage union membership by making unions responsible for welfare, unemployment benefits. They partially receive money from the government, but the fund is ultimately managed by the unions, so you want to join a union because it gives you access to said benefits. Norway temporarily switched to a ghent system decades ago and saw a rapid increase in union membership because of that, but within a few years decided to scrap it.
Unions are good but I think it’s important to think big: we already have existing structures today that go beyond unions. Many know what coops are through for example credit unions, but a lesser known thing is works councils. In Europe, we have laws that mandate that workers are to represent a certain percentage of the board (leadership) of a business:
Slovenia, Germany and Slovakia have 33%-50% of the board be elected workers. Norway, the Czech Republic, Austria, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, and Sweden are at 33%. Finland is at 20%. The variation comes from whether a company is public or private, with a bias towards higher representation for public ones, and usually with minimum employee quantities before the law kicks in.
But the bottom line is that Europe in a very important way has democracy at work already, even if it’s not 100%, and it exists in addition to unions and coops. This is an often overlooked element that we should be demanding - and we have practical, real life examples to point to.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_representation_on_corporate_boards_of_directors
Another lesser known element is one that Sweden in particular has that is a big reason its union density is so high: a ghent system.
This is a way to encourage union membership by making unions responsible for welfare, unemployment benefits. They partially receive money from the government, but the fund is ultimately managed by the unions, so you want to join a union because it gives you access to said benefits. Norway temporarily switched to a ghent system decades ago and saw a rapid increase in union membership because of that, but within a few years decided to scrap it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent_system