worker councils
Employee governing bodies
Worker councils are bodies of employees who participate in workplace decisions, typically alongside or instead of traditional management.
They range from advisory committees with limited input to governing bodies with real authority over hiring, wages, and operations.
The term often appears in socialist and labor contexts: The factory was run by a worker council elected from the shop floor.
In some European countries, worker councils are legally mandated forums for employee representation.
- self-managementGoverning oneself independently
- shop stewardsElected workplace union officials
- rank and fileOrdinary members collectively
- collective bargainingJoint worker-employer talks
- syndicalismUnion-led worker ownership theory
trade unionism · labor movement · unionization · guild socialism · workplace democracy · collective ownership · socialist movements · labor history · participatory democracy · mass meeting · general strike · strike action · Marxist theory · class struggle · voting · proletariat · delegates · mandate
worker councilsmanagement hierarchy
Ranked authority within organizations
top-down management · corporate hierarchy · chain of command · board of directors · absentee ownership
worker councilscapitalism
Private profit-based economy
corporate capitalism · private ownership · family business · plutocracy