Workplaces should be a democracy, not a dictatorship.
‘The history of human growth and development is at the same time the history of the terrible struggle of every new idea heralding the approach of a brighter dawn. In its tenacious hold on tradition, the Old has never hesitated to make use of the foulest and cruelest means to stay the advent of the New.’ — Emma Goldman
For a long time, working people had no say over anything that happened to them. In the UK, only a small amount of the land-owning male population could vote. Then, in 1928, we achieved universal suffrage. 100 years later, it is unthinkable to us that we would not have control of our fates in society.
Democracy was one of the most radical ideas of its day. Now, years later — it is the cornerstone of Western civilisation. Yet, for at least 8 hours a day, we deny our right to decide our own fates. When many of us step into the office, we handover to a dictatorship. It’s a state where we decide nothing and get exploited for everything. Why?
After the 2008 financial crash, the economy was in shambles. Thousands of people were out of work. Yet many companies that announced massive layoffs remained highly profitable (or received state-funded bailouts). Companies such as Microsoft, Walmart and IBM to name a few. This wasn’t an accident. It was a business decision made by a handful of key shareholders. The profits and bonuses needed rescuing. So the workers paid the price.
In the rules of capitalism, this was fair game. Profits are the measure of all success. They did what they needed to do. A majority of the people affected by the decision had no say in their own fates. They were told to get up and get out.
This is the dogma of capitalism. It’s the way things are, because that’s how they are supposed to be. A tiny minority of wealthy owners decide how an organisation operates. They receive all the profits from that organisation. Regardless of the amount of innovation or labour they have contributed. Society broadly accepts this.
We are heavily indoctrinated. Whether through the false belief that we could be one of the elite, if only we worked hard enough. Or that there is some divine cosmic justice at play. The ingenuity of wealthy people to be wealthy, should be consistently rewarded by other peoples hard-work.
We come to expect this as normal. The entire working culture dictates you pay penance for being alive. You’re lucky to work here. You’re supposed to hate your boss. You don’t enjoy work. This is a bizarre way to spend a third of your life in a so-called ‘free’ society.
We need to change our perception of work. Instead of toiling for the pennies, we should see work as a social good. Contribution to society. Creating goods and services for people like us. If we shift our perceptions, then our policy of ‘profit-by-any-means’ becomes redundant. We are all consumers, thus we should all be owners. We should all have a say in how our businesses run, and feel the benefit of our collective hard graft. This is democracy. This is freedom.
Worker cooperatives are a great example of this. They are like any other business; selling their goods on an open market place. But, they differ to most because the people who work in them, own it! They aren’t employees in the traditional sense. They all make decisions and receive the benefits of the profits shared equally*. They practice self-organisation — meaning that hierarchy is almost or totally flat. No managers. No bosses. Sounds too good to be true right?
There are over 7,000 registered cooperatives in the UK. They contribute around £34bn to the economy. These include supermarkets, credit unions, cafes, manufacturing, creative agencies plus many more. Many companies also adopt similar practices without being cooperatives. The Coop supermarket, for example, is owned by it’s customers. Allowing the customers to vote for board members and direction on business policy. I work for a software company that, whilst being a private corporation, shares profit and has a self-organisation structure. Where working culture is collectively managed by all the people that work there.
This is the future of work. As we enter a Third Industrial Revolution, many industries are changing. Millions of jobs are at risk of being replaced or destroyed entirely. We need to abandon the idea that businesses exist solely to make profit for a few. Democratising the workplace can have huge affects on lives of working people. Alleviating the ravaging effects of in-work poverty and improving mental health. Giving democratic control to businesses could help usher in more working rights too. Such as a shorter working week or more environmentally friendly production.
Yet there is a higher good than the economic one. Liberation. Millions of people goto work everyday feeling exploited, alienated and bored. We are a demoralised cog in a machine. Something replaceable. So many of us glide through life, wasting years working in jobs that depress and marginalise us. Giving us autonomy on how we spend a third of our lives isn’t just good business, its a moral imperative.
Find out more about cooperatives here: https://www.uk.coop/
Join a trade union, who lobby and organise working people for more control and benefits: https://unitetheunion.org/
*This is just an example of worker co-operatives. By design, the democratic nature of cooperatives means not every cooperatives operates the same. This adds to their beauty, if you ask me.
