Socialism and Democracy in EuropeOrth, Samuel Peter
History
Socialism and Democracy in Europe
Orth, Samuel Peter
Democracy; Socialism
4. The abolition of private employment agencies, with their many
abuses, and replacing them with communal labor bureaus free to all.
The voluntary federations of the trade unions were put on a similar
footing with the communal labor exchanges, and were encouraged to
co-operate with them. Millerand took great care to perfect the
organization of trade unions. He introduced amendments to the old law
of 1884, giving greater scope and elasticity to the unions, granting
them greater corporate powers, and making the dismissal of a workman
because he belonged to a union ground for a civil suit for damages. He
began a movement to secure the co-operation between the unions and the
state workshop inspectors. There had been a great deal of abuse in the
operation of the inspection laws by the employers. An attempt was now
made to define strictly the rights and duties of the inspectors.
5. His pet scheme was the establishing of labor councils (conseils du
travail). On these councils labor and employer were to have equal
representation. The duty of the councils embraced the adjudication of
all disputes arising between employer and employee, suggesting
improvements, and keeping vigilance over all local labor conditions.
In 1891 a supreme labor council had been established. To this
Millerand added lay and official members and greatly increased its
efficiency. He tried to make it a central vigilance bureau, keeping in
close touch with local conditions all over the land.
6. He elaborated a plan for regulating industrial disputes. This was
to be effected by a permanent organization in each establishment
employing more than fifty men, a sort of committee of grievance to
which all matters of dispute might be referred. In case of failure to
settle their difficulties an appeal to the local labor council was
provided. By this democratic representative machinery Millerand hoped
to solve the labor problem.
It will be seen that Millerand's plan was an attempt, by law, to
project the working class, not into politics but into the capitalist
class. He would do this by compelling the employer to share the
responsibility of ownership with his employees. This would mark the
beginning of a revolution very different from the revolution
ordinarily preached by propagandists, because this revolution would
substitute class peace in place of our present incessant economic
class war.
The Socialists made it plain that Millerand's procedure was not
Socialism. When Millerand was first asked to take a cabinet portfolio
his friend Jaurès told him to accept. When he had perfected his
practical procedure, and the bulk of the proletarians evinced their
disappointment and chagrin that the elevation of a Socialist had not
brought utopia, Jaurès gradually slipped away from his former alliance
and finally left the reformist group.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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