Worker Participation and Autonomy: A Multilevel Approach to Democracy at the Workplace

Abstract

The article describes a process toward democracy at the workplace in a Swedish middle-sized manufacturing company producing for the export market. The change process was initiated and engineered by the trade union local in close cooperation with management. Within an overall strategy for increased worker control, the democratized work organization combines co-determination for the local trade union board in strategic management decisions with a system of autonomous production groups, where supervisors have been replaced by “contact people” elected by and responsible to the groups. Through the autonomous groups, all workers participate in decisions about production. The groups decide on all matters related to work performance and take collective responsibility for production results. As an introduction to the case, the paper puts this trade union model for democracy at the workplace in the perspective of a 50-year development of productivity and worker participation in Scandinavia. The case report deals both with the change process (why and how it came about) and with the outcome of the new work organization for the workers, the union, and the company. It is shown that the new work organization has meant a richer job content, increased dignity for workers, increased solidarity among workers, increased trade union activity and strength, as well as a more effective use of productive resources in the company. Despite local peculiarities, it is concluded that the experiences gained from this case can be transferred to other workplaces where workers are interested in having more say, more security, and a more meaningful work situation.