Two events taking place on either side of the Atlantic this week will make it clear for all to see the alarming extent to which our democracy has been captured by corporate interests.
In the United States, Donald Trump will return to the Capitol for his inauguration, no doubt feigning a newfound respect for democracy just four years after his supporters stormed the same building but armed with a playbook of far-right policies designed to undermine it.
The Project 2025 programme for government drawn up by the Heritage Foundation in collaboration with Trump’s allies and former staff includes plans to scrap democratic checks and balances, attack civil liberties, abuse human rights, repeal climate action and, of course, attempt to weaken workers’ rights.
Lurking behind the throne, or most recently awkwardly dancing beside it, is Trump’s billionaire doge, Elon Musk, who has said he disagrees with the principle of trade unions and was praised by the president-elect for sacking striking workers.
In the place of a mature and participative democracy of which unions form a central part, politics increasing resembles an episode of The Apprentice, the reality TV show in which Trump and a few trusted advisors decide the fate of workers facing an ever tougher fight for survival.
Starting on the same day as Trump’s inauguration on this side of the Atlantic is the Davos summit, where you will find many business leaders who share Trump and Musk’s disdain for the complications of a pluralistic democracy and would prefer to see government ‘streamlined’ and run like a business.
Unfortunately, an increasing number of business leaders are abandoning our system of social dialogue in the belief that they alone have the answers to our economic challenges.
According to some CEOs who have paid extortionate amounts to whisper in the ears of policymakers over canapes, the answer to all our problems would be to ‘lower regulatory burden’ (cutting safety and environmental standards), a more ‘business friendly environment’ (lower wages and working conditions), and ‘incentives to innovate’ (tax cuts at the expense of public services).
Europe could never win a race to the bottom that Trump and Musk’s admirers here are clamouring for and we can already see how this recipe has damaged Europe’s competitiveness.
You only need to look at the results of a new survey by the World Economic Forum, which shows employers in Europe say a skills and labour shortage is their biggest barrier to success over the next five years.
Employers would do well to consider then evidence showing that downward pressure on wages and working conditions have exacerbated Europe’s labour shortages. The industries finding it hardest to recruit workers paying nine percent less on average than those least affected by the labour shortage, a study by the European Trade Union Institute has found.
Musk’s decision to locate his Tesla factory in Sweden is also very telling about the solution to the skills shortage. He says his business model is ‘incompatible’ with collective bargaining but the high-skilled workforce his company depends on is available exactly because collective bargaining results in employers giving workers better opportunities to keep training.
And when it comes to investment, corporations should start by putting more of their profits back into their business rather than siphoning more and more into the pockets of CEOs and shareholders.
Gross investment has fallen by nine percent across the EU since 2019, while over the same period profit share has risen by three percent.
That has coincided with dividend payments to shareholders growing rapidly. At the same time as working people have been experiencing a cost-of-living crisis, and CEOs in the EU now earn more than 110 times more than the average full-time worker.
It’s this manifestly obscene inequality that is the source of the growing anger in our societies.
This week’s events demonstrate how increasing corporate power is not only leading to the hollowing out of our economy but is also corroding our society and undermining confidence in democracy.
That’s exactly why the likes of Trump and Musk target trade unions and why any efforts to reinforce our ramparts against a slide in authoritarianism must begin in our workplaces.
Not only do well functioning collective bargaining systems like that in Sweden greatly reduce the economic inequality on which the false prophets of the far-right prey on, but a recent study of 15,000 workers in ten EU countries shows how there is a strong correlation between better working conditions, such as fair pay, work-life balance and a chance to participate in decisions, and positive attitudes towards democracy and trust in its institutions.
That’s why the far-right in the European Parliament fought so hard recently to stop efforts to give a voice to workers in multinational companies and why it’s so important that quality jobs are a priority for the new European Commission.
Quality jobs would mean workers are fully-trained in the skills that companies require and that companies offer the pay and conditions which prevent labour shortages.All the evidence shows quality jobs are good for workers, good for companies and also good for our democracy.
This is how you prevent the “lords and peasants” society which Elon Musk claims to be against. This should be Europe’s own project 2025.
Esther Lynch is general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation.
Esther Lynch is general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation.