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Title: Workers’ Self-Management Author: Winter Jones Date: March 16, 2017 Language: en Topics: economics, economy, workers’ control, self-management, organization Source: http://ideasandaction.info/2017/03/workers-self-management/
Workers’ Self-Management is exactly what it sounds like — workers
controlling their own workplaces, answering to nobody other than
themselves, and also to their fellow workers. Everybody involved in
making the workplace’s decisions is on an equal footing: one person, one
vote. This does not mean that every decision is made collectively. If
something only affects one worker, then that worker can make the
decision themselves. However, whenever a decision affects multiple
workers, then all affected have an equal say in deciding things.
structure?
When you have a boss constantly telling you what to do, you feel very
disempowered at work. Hierarchical management drains the lifeblood of
the worker and leaves them feeling alienated from their job. This is why
people often complain about their jobs. This sense of disempowerment
leads to people being “lazy” and not working as well. Let’s face it,
nobody likes it when someone else tells you what to do and you don’t
have any say in the matter. In the sphere of work, if you disobey your
boss, you are likely to be left without a job.
Contrast this nightmare with workers’ self-management. In workers’
self-management you have as much say in how things are run as every
other worker. A system of shop floor direct democracy is implemented in
which each worker affected by a decision collectively decide upon the
decision. In small workplaces, this is very easily done by using a
simple collective structure.
In larger workplaces, this can be done very easily by dividing
workplaces into departments. The departments could be divided based on
the type of work being done. They would consist of the teams of workers
who work together in day-to-day tasks. Each department would function
similar to a small worker’s collective.
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When workplace-wide decisions must be made, a delegate from each
department could be sent to a meeting of all the departments. The
delegate would have no power over their individual department, but would
instead convey the wishes of their department as previously agreed upon
by those in it. The delegates would be frequently rotated so that no one
worker could gain too much influence over the others. The decisions of
the delegates are subject to the democratic approval of the workers at
the workplace, and in this way are mandated.
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