Workers' self-management

From Freepedia

Worker Self-Management is a form of workplace decision-making in which the employees themselves agree on choices (for issues like customer care, general production methods, scheduling, division of labour etc.) instead of the traditional authoritative supervisor telling workers what to do, how to do it and where to do it.

Also known as autogestion, workers' self-management is often the decision-making model used in co-operative economic arrangements such as worker cooperatives, workers' councils, and in participatory economics, and similar arrangements where the workplace operates without a boss.

Critics (albeit, managers and capitalists) argue that consulting all employees for every tiny issue is time consuming, inefficient and thus ineffective. However, as seen real world examples only large-scale decisions are made by all employees during a counsel meeting. Cosmetic issues are made impromptu.

1 An Abstract Example
2 Current Real World Example
3 See Also
4 External Links

An Abstract Example

Say if a worker makes a major mistake during the middle of a work day that results in major profit loss, the workers are quick to discuss the consequences and adapt accordingly to avoid such a mistake in the future. In traditional capitalism, a manager would discipline and punish the worker responsible for the mistake.

Current Real World Example

Through out the 1990s in Argentina's southern province of Neuquen, drastic economic and political events occurred where the citizens ultimately roseup. Although the first shift occurred in a single factory, bosses were progressively fired throughout the province so that by 2005 the workers control everything. Documenting the most recent economic and political situation in Neuquen, Yeidy Rosa has written an article detailing the complextities of worker self managment and how it came to be in Argentina.