Understanding democracy in all its dimensions is the purpose of Luigi Ferrajoli, professor of Philosophy of Law at the public university of Roma Tres, in his recent and fundamental book The construction of democracy (Trotta Publishing). The work devotes special attention to economic democracy and advocates “the democratization of companies and, more generally, of workplaces.” The eminent jurist takes up the global call Democratizing work signed by more than 3,000 scholars from more than 650 universities, published in May 2020 in which “workers are called ‘work investors’, since they invest their work – their mind and their body – to ensure the survival of all , and that is why they are conceived as the key to the success of employers, that is, of ‘capital investors’ and as the core constituent of companies.” Hence the need to involve workers “in decisions related to their lives and their future in the workplace.”
A spirit that is a reality in Germany, Holland and the Scandinavian countries where, after the Second World War, forms of co-management were instituted that, although they have not provided all the expected results, have achieved high levels of productivity. The latest statistics from the International Labor Organization (ILO) reveal the high productivity of work in Sweden and Germany, with 61.7 and 58.3 dollars produced per hour worked, respectively. Results much higher than those of countries that lack these institutions such as the United Kingdom and Spain, with 51.3 and 48.8 dollars generated per hour worked, respectively.
Within the framework of these experiences of the most democratic and efficient European countries, we must place the proposal of the vice president of the Government and acting Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, included in the Government agreement between PSOE and Sumar, which advocates regulating participation of unions in the governing bodies of companies. Díaz’s idea is based on article 129.2 of the Spanish Constitution: “The public powers will effectively promote the various forms of participation in the company and will encourage, through appropriate legislation, cooperatives. They will also establish the means that facilitate workers’ access to ownership of the means of production.”
In Secret chronicle of the Constitution, (Tecnos 1989 and 2018), Soledad Gallego-Díaz and the much-missed Bonifacio de la Cuadra, considered that “by strictly adhering to the text of the precept, we find ourselves perhaps facing the most revolutionary norm of the Constitution.” The journalists recalled that it was an amendment by a deputy from the Popular Alliance (AP) -Licinio de la Fuente-, which was approved thanks to the favorable vote of four speakers: that of AP, the socialist, the communist and that of the Catalan Minority. . The ignored Spanish Constitution of 1978 has 169 articles, four additional provisions, nine transitional, one repealing and one final. All important, although some only invoke those that interest them. With the current climate today it would not be possible.
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