Workplace Democracy, Resilience and Job Quality: The Case of Cooperatives

Cooperatives tend to be regarded as outliers in workplace democracy policy and research except during times of economic crisis when their resilience in terms of maintaining and creating jobs is recognised. Explanations for this resilience have tended to rest on single items (or single practices). We question this type of explanation, drawing on empirical research from a study of cooperatives from five European countries following the global economic crisis of the 2010s. Examining employment levels and job quality within cooperatives, we examine if and how employment resilience occurs in cooperatives. We find that most of these cooperatives had maintained or raised their employment levels and, moreover, provide good jobs. In analysing the relationship between the two, our findings raise a number of important points about workplace democracy. Firstly, that workplace democracy itself, as manifest in cooperatives, is resilient in the face of economic crisis. Secondly, that a synergistic effect exists from the bundle of practices that characterise good jobs within cooperatives that creates their organisational capacity for resilience. Thirdly, that workplace democracy enhances, not diminishes, organisational performance. The chapter offers important lessons not only about the potential of cooperatives but also the potential gains from workplace democracy for mainstream firms.