When a factory in Thessaloniki was abandoned by its owners in May 2011, the workers decided to occupy it and resume production under workers’ control.

"The difference between councils and trade unions is that, while the latter lose their functions in a decaying capitalism, the former become a prefiguration of the organisation of socialist society."

Workers’ self-management is associated with times of social transformation. The state may chose to either restrict self-management or facilitate it so the conflict is institutionalised and contained.