Why Canada needs a law that gives workers the right to govern their workplace

Democratic worker co-operatives are workplaces where workers collectively own the firm and elect the governing board. (Shutterstock)

A major fault line in contemporary society is that while our political lives are governed by democratic principles, our economic lives largely are not.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, Maple Leaf Foods experienced an outbreak in its Brandon, Man. factory. Not only were workers ordered to keep working in unsafe conditions, they were forced to work overtime.