Why the US Right Wants to Put Workers in the Boardroom

Many attendees at the recent National Conservatism conference in Orlando will have been perplexed to find a session on “Worker Power” on the agenda. After all, conservatism, at least in America, has long been synonymous with the interests of big business.

But globalisation’s fallout is weakening the social fabric, corporations are embracing progressive pieties and working-class voters are moving towards the Republicans. Revitalising the American labour movement has gained attention on the centre-right.

On Wednesday, Republican senator Marco Rubio and congressman Jim Banks, chair of the largest conservative caucus on Capitol Hill, will introduce a bill that would require worker representatives to be granted a seat on some corporate boards.