How do today’s changing labour markets influence democratic participation, and what role can workers’ organisations play in shaping these dynamics? These questions were at the heart of the international seminar “Strengthening democracy at work and in society through capacity building among workers’ organisations”, held on 27 November at HIVA–KU Leuven.

Organised by HIVA–KU Leuven, the European Centre for Workers’ Questions (EZA) and a network of researchers and practitioners, the seminar focused on three interconnected areas:

• democracy in the workplace
• democratic participation in society
• democracy within trade unions

CELSI researcher Monika Martišková took part in the panel “Democracy in the workplace”, alongside Torsten Müller (ETUI) and Raf De Weerdt (ABVV/FGTB).

In her contribution, Monika focused on the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, highlighting how workplace democracy is shaped by low collective bargaining coverage, declining trade union density, and the varying practices of multinational employers.

She pointed to the specific challenges workers face in influencing change at the workplace, and how these structural conditions affect democratic participation more broadly.

Her intervention added a valuable CEE perspective to a wider discussion on the links between workplace conditions, workers’ political attitudes, and the evolving role of trade unions in democratic societies.

We thank the organisers for bringing together a thoughtful group of researchers and practitioners to reflect on an increasingly important research agenda for Europe.

#CELSI #DemocracyAtWork #WorkersRights #SocialDialogue #TradeUnions #LabourRelations #MonikaMartišková #HIVA #EZA #KULeuven

AGENDA of the seminar: https://hiva.kuleuven.be/nl/kalender/docs/eza-democracy-agenda-eind.pdf