Representation without co-determination? Participation and co-determination for semi-professional shop stewards in the collective participation system in Denmark

Abstract

This article examines co-determination in the collective participation system in Denmark among semi-professional shop stewards and health and safety representatives in the private and the public sector. Union strategies for democratization of working life and economic democracy are no longer progressing as in the 1970s, and co-determination seems to be on the defensive, challenged by new forms of employer strategies, New Public Management principles and the neoliberal strategy for individualization. These developments call for a reappraisal of the capability of the system to secure influence and participation in decision-making. The main findings, based on comprehensive empirical investigations, are three-fold. First, a connection between new employer strategies and the level of influence and co-determination is recorded. Generally, the representatives find it harder to maintain co-determination in a change-intensive workplace context especially with regard to tactical and strategic decisions. Second, visions for democratization exist among the majority of the representatives, who wish to strengthen co-determination institutionally and at the strategic level. The obstacles call for new institutional rights of co-determination in the central cooperation agreement. Third, a broader upgrade of analytical skills is required to develop abilities to analyse and anticipate developments, to decode management strategies and see opportunities of change in the institution – a sort of politico-sociological imagination to make it possible to grasp the surrounding world’s signals as well as the opportunities to approach agenda-setting more proactively.