Syndicalism in FranceLorwin, Lewis L. (Lewis Levitzki)
History
Syndicalism in France
Lorwin, Lewis L. (Lewis Levitzki)
Labor unions -- France -- History; Syndicalism -- France
(4) If your syndicat is a group within the system of highways, of
transportation of products or of passengers, of distribution, etc., how
do you conceive its functioning?
(5) What will be your relations to your federation of trade or of
industry after your reorganization?
(6) On what principle would the distribution of products take place and
how would the productive groups procure the raw material for themselves?
(7) What part would the _Bourses du Travail_ play in the transformed
society and what would be their task with reference to the statistics
and to the distribution of products?
At the Congress of Montpellier, in 1902, a number of reports were
presented answering the above questions. The reports were in the name of
the syndicats and came from different parts of France. Only a limited
number of them were printed as appendices to the general report of the
Congress. Among them, it may be interesting to note, was the report of
the syndicat of agricultural laborers. The rest were summed up in the
official organ of the Confederation, _La Voix du Peuple_.
The reports differed in details. Some emphasized one point more than
another and _vice versa_. But the general character of the reports was
identical and showed a consensus of opinion on the main outlines of that
"economic federalism" which is the ideal of the syndicalists.
According to this ideal, the syndicat will constitute the cell of
society. It will group the producers of one and the same trade who will
control their means of production. Property, however, will be social or
collective, and no one syndicat will be the exclusive owner of any
portion of the collective property. It will merely use it with the
consent of the entire society.
The syndicat will be connected with the rest of society through its
relations with the Federation of its trade, the _Bourse du Travail_, and
the General Confederation. With the National Federation relations will
be mainly technical and special, and the rôle of the Federation will be
insignificant. With the General Confederation relations will be indirect
and mainly by mediation of the _Bourse du Travail_. Relations with the
latter will be of permanent importance, as the _Bourses du Travail_ will
be the centers of economic activity.
The _Bourse du Travail_--in the ideal system of the syndicalists--will
concentrate all local interests and serve as a connecting link between a
locality and the rest of the world. In its capacity as local center it
will collect all statistical data necessary for the regular flow of
economic life. It will keep itself informed on the necessities of the
locality and on its resources, and will provide for the proper
distribution of products; as intermediary between the locality and the
rest of the country it will facilitate the exchange of products between
locality and locality and will provide for the introduction of raw
materials from outside.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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