Seminar in the Sejm on board-level employee representation
Text:

Instytut Spraw Publicznych

Podziel się
Social policy

Seminar in the Sejm on board-level employee representation


On 22 Oct 2024, Institute of Public Affairs in partnership with the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the Parliamentary Club "The Left" organised a seminar on board-level employee representation in the Sejm.


On the occasion of the first anniversary of the Polish elections, which took place on 15 October 2023, it is more than timely to take stock of our democratic institutions and reflect on how democracy can be further deepened and expanded through progressive policy agendas that reach companies and the economy, areas that have so far remained in the shadows of the public democratic sphere. 

For this reason, the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), in collaboration with the Parliamentary Club “The Left” of the Polish Parliament, organised a seminar focusing on workers’ participation in company boards. Both the ETUI and the IPA have contributed to these discussions by carrying out studies on the subject. The immediate impetus for this seminar is the forthcoming publication of an ETUI collective comparative book entitled ‘Revisiting worker representation on boards: the forgotten EU countries in codetermination studies’, which examines the social significance, debates and prospects for worker representation on company boards as a part of a wider democratic programme. The book analyses ten European countries that are usually under-explored in codetermination studies, including Poland. Understanding the historical and existing debates, institutions, perceptions and practices of codetermination and its difficulties of success in these peripheral European economies is key to assessing any prospects for the development of codetermination in social policy. Presenting the chapters of the book that deal with the Polish case in the wider context of the neighbouring Czech Republic, as well as the Spanish case where worker participation and democracy at work have recently entered the policy and legislative agenda, were a point of reference for discussion on how to extend and revitalise workers’ participation rights in Poland. 

 The seminar consisted of three panels. The first focused on the academic perspective by presenting the ETUI book, with the Polish chapter at focus compared with other national case studies. The second panel gave space for discussion among Polish social partners to share their experiences and prospects of worker representation on management and supervisory boards in Poland. The final panel brought together high-level policy-makers to reflect on possible avenues for this topic in the European context, and to guide and support national governmental and parliamentary initiatives in the ongoing legislature. 
 
Subscribe newsletter
Newsletter