ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses worker participation in management at corporate, establishment and shop-floor level, especially at large firms in the private sector. Worker participation in management here means that workers have a say in managerial decision making individually or collectively through their representatives, and that they regulate it or in some cases play a role in helping to execute the decisions. Although there are various forms of worker participation in management such as worker director schemes, profit-sharing schemes, joint consultation, collective bargaining, quality circles and so on, the following issues are analysed using a three-tiered model (Kochan et al. 1986):

participation in strategic decision making at a top tier through joint consultation;

negotiation on staffing and transfer at a functional tier through collective bargaining and/or joint consultation; and

job-centred individual participation at a workplace level tier.