Work and Socioeconomic Democratization:
DEMOCRATIZING THE WORKPLACE

Several problems

The alienation of workers from the means of production has not disappeared with the decline of industrial societyŠ it has simply taken new forms. The lack of motivation faced day-to-day at work and stress are clear indications of its persistence.

We in fact observe that democracy is not a reality in the world of work, as it is still largely run according to feudal or monarchical principles. Yet we spend the majority of our lives in our workplaces, and not in the voting booth on elections days.

Democratic socialism is not only a question of wealth redistribution: itıs as much a question of the democratic control by citizens and workers over the means of production.

Some solutions

During a first mandate, we will adopt incentive measures to encourage businesses to implement programmes of industrial democracy and worker participation dealing with two closely related questions:

• Participation in decision-making and joint management;
• Profit-sharing.

We must adopt a sectoral approach in order to allow different types of businesses to pursue different methods. Pilot projects could be started to favour the emergence of new models of collective property and workplace democratization. Over a period of 10 years, we could hope to see a five-fold increase in the number of firms engaged on this path.

To get there, we must not only favour unionization, but also work to build a renewed unionism. Important efforts will be made, through Labour Code reforms, to favour unionization in sectors with low levels of union coverage. We will also count on the contribution and participation of Labour Funds.

It should be underlined that joint management and profit sharing will be an important indicator used when establishing a businessı social balance sheet.

A financial education and training programme for workers will also be put in place by Human Resources Development Canada.