Por Redaccion 
The second vice president of the Government and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, announced this Thursday that she will launch a Law of Democracy in the Company based on the proposals of a group of 13 experts, who will have until next September to issue their report. One of them, Sergio González, from the University of Oviedo.
The minister participated this Thursday in the first meeting of this group of experts, which is called the ‘International High-Level Commission of experts on Democracy in Work’.
This commission will be made up of specialists in this field internationally under the presidency of Professor Isabelle Ferreras, from the National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) of the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), who also conducts scientific activities at Harvard and Oxford universities.
As the minister explained in the presentation of this commission, the mandate of this group of experts will be to develop the application of Article 129.2 of the Spanish Constitution.
This article establishes that «public authorities will effectively promote the various forms of participation in the company and will promote, through appropriate legislation, cooperative societies. They will also establish the means to facilitate workers’ access to the ownership of the means of production.»
Díaz has indicated that this debate is very necessary today, «when a few despotic business owners want to control the most precious good, which is freedom, equality, and, ultimately, democracy.
The minister has stated that this commission will conclude its work around September and has pointed out that their proposals «will not be left in a drawer.» «They will see the light, and we will respect what this commission says, whether we like it or not, and we will materialize it in a future Law of Democracy in the Company,» highlighted the minister, who added that this group of experts constitutes a «select panel» of internationally renowned specialists.
Their work should provide the keys to achieving a strategy of democratization of companies, the minister said, specifying that this implies improving the quality of democracy and advancing in the fight against inequality. «Without democracy in the workplace, democracy is incomplete,» Díaz emphasized.
In this way, the second vice president indicated, the work of the commission should contribute to designing the path towards an economic democracy, proposing the democratization of companies.
«We are starting a process that not only seeks to settle a debt with our Constitution but is part of a global trend that places the participation of workers at the center of the transformations of the 21st century,» emphasized Díaz.
BENEFITS OF WORKERS’ PARTICIPATION IN COMPANIES
The minister pointed out that this is not just a debate about labor rights but also about the model of the company, where she argued that workers’ participation in companies improves productivity, innovation, and the resilience of the productive fabric.
«Ultimately, workers’ participation reduces conflict, grants greater stability, and contributes to achieving better economic results,» the minister concluded.
Díaz asserted that «the economic model» is at stake and the type of company that Spain wants. «What kind of companies do we want in our country? This is the question we must ask ourselves. Do we want low-wage companies or high involvement through talent? ‘Low-cost’ companies or those based on innovation, training, and the challenges we face? Companies oriented towards speculation, to increase dividends and profits, or towards production? Despotic companies or democratic companies? These are models, but in any case, a decision must be made,» the vice president pointed out.
The minister emphasized that inequality is currently one of the «great anomalies» and represents a challenge «for Spain, for Europe, and for the world.» «We are witnessing the rule of a few ultra-rich individuals in a stark manner, dominating the world at their whim, disposing of public goods, healthcare, education, defense, human rights, always at the service of the business of a very few, fewer and fewer. This is obscene. That is why the great challenge of humanity in this era is democratic,» emphasized the minister.
THE 13 EXPERTS OF THE COMMISSION
Along with Isabelle Ferreras, the commission of experts on democracy in work will include Jeremias Adams-Prassl (University of Oxford); Julie Battilana (Harvard University); Antonio Baylos (University of Castilla-La Mancha); Benjamin Braun (The London School of Economics); Isabel-Gemma Fajardo (University of Valencia); Sergio González (University of Oviedo); Francisca María Ferrando (University of Murcia); Daniel Innerarity (University of the Basque Country); Sara Lafuente (University of Brussels); Erinch Sahan (Doughnut Economics Lab, Oxford); Vicente Salas (University of Zaragoza), and Edurne Terradillos (University of the Basque Country).
The commission will also have contributions from experts from other academic institutions, as specified by the Ministry of Labor in a statement.