Workers' collectivity at the workplace as an independent organisational mechanism

A distinctive feature of some manufacturing workplaces has been that the negotiated order of day-to-day operations is dependent on the consent of a workplace-level collectivity of workers. Despite Lysgaard's (1961) stimulating contribution very little empirical research exists on this topic. This article discusses potential criteria which could be used in the identification of workers' workplace organisations. Instead of overt institutional mechanisms the differentia specifica of a workers' workplace organisation is linked

• 1.

  (1) to the existence of leadership over and above lower-level collectivities,

• 2.

  (2) to the existence of a factory consciousness which distinguishes workers' workplace organisations from other local collectivities and

• 3.

  (3) to the ability to mobilise the resources of the members to joint action which serves as an ultimate power base of the collectivity.

It is suggested that these criteria bridge the gap between the theoretical notion and holistic empirical research, which must draw on ideas from a variety of research traditions.