In Germany the workers sit on the board of directors and exercise powers as little "Soviets" to adjudicate workers rights and to participate in the proprietary decisions of the board.
This is akin to a rent control ordinances New York City which in effect the vests the owner of real property, in this instance an apartment building, of the ownership of one of those units and, in effect, transfers the ownership to a tenant. Yes, the ostensible ownership remains in the landlord but the unit has become subject to so many restrictions that the beneficial enjoyment of the unit has actually been transferred to the tenant who might be able to stay in an apartment with a rental value of thousands of dollars for a paltry monthly rent and even pass it along under those conditions to his heirs.
This kind of "regulation" is really a way of undoing our constitutional property rights. If you as the owner of real estate cannot contract with a prospective tenant you are really not the owner of all the rights inherent to real property. So, by regulation, we have ripped out the backbone of the capitalist system and substituted a whole new idea of regulating life by regulation. Once that idea gains currency, there is really no stopping it short of bankruptcy because there are always more tenants than landlords.
This is akin to what the German unions would like to impose on America. If employees want to become owners of Volkswagen they should buy stock in Volkswagen and vote their interests. Otherwise our capital system provides them with the opportunity to contract if they can find a willing partner in management. Unfortunately in my view, our system permits them to contract collectively if they can qualify as the majority preference of the workers. This movement by the unions is even trying to undo that level of democracy.
