Reflections from the past

FOCUS□ LABOURRIGHTSANDTHE GLOBALECONOMY Reflections from the past As ens markets the and current increases state global intervention on economic a massive into crisis scale, financial deepitis ens and stateintervention into financial markets increases on a massivescale,itis only naturalforlabour rightsactivists to ask whether theremay also be an opportunity to reverse thetrendof labourmarket deregulation thathas prevailed in muchof theindustrialised worldforthepastthirty yearsand to strengthen labourrights. It is also notsurprising thatmany NorthAmericanliberalsand progressives are comparingthe current situationto the Great Depressionand askingwhether a modernNew Deal forworking people might be in theoffing. Canhistory repeatitself andifso howandunder whatcircumstances? Therecertainly are enoughhistorical parallels betweenthepresent crisis andthe1920stojustifythecomparison . Intheaftermath ofWorld War I therewas enormoussocial unrestas workers who had fought a war abroadforfreedom and democracy wantedtogetsomeforthemselves at home.In mostcountries, however, thepost-war workers' revolt was crushed leadingtoa restorationoftheold regime inwhichworkers enjoyed few individual labourrights and unionsfaced state-backed employer hostility to theirorganisingefforts . Underthisregime, incomeinequality skyrocketed as elitessuccessfully appropriated forthemselves larger sharesofsocially produced wealth.The labourmovement retreated from its efforts toorganise semi-skilled industrial workers inmassproduction industries and instead fought defensive battles onbehalf oftheskilled menthat formed itscoreconstituency. The neo-liberal turnin thelate1970scame in the aftermath of the anti-warmovement, an upsurge ofsocialmovements demanding greater equality forgroupsleft outofthepreviousNew Deal, and a periodoflabourmilitancy thatproducedhighlevelsofstrike activity andsuccessful demandsforimproved healthand safety laws as wellas individual labourrights prohibiting workplace discrimination and providing forunpaid leaves.Although thesemovements havenotbeen crushed, muchofthewindhasgoneoutoftheir sails.Thelabourmovement inparticular has sufferedenormous losses,especiallyin theprivate sector, and a smalleconomicelitehas sharply increased itsincomewhileworking people have seentheir wagesstagnate ordecline. Thus both the current crisisand the Great Depressionariseagainst thebackground ofsuccessfulprojectsto restoreunsocialisedmarket regimes. Whilethecrisis ofsucha regime creates opportunitiesto resocialise capitalism and advance labour rights, thereare certainly no guarantees that thiswillbe theoutcome.Indeed, history points toother pathsthat might be taken. One isthat thecrisis willbe resolved without any significant changeand the unsocialisedmarket regimewillcontinuewithin thepoliticalframeworkofliberal democracy. A secondistheriseof authoritarian capitalist states, exemplified byfascisminthe1920sand30s .Finally, a third issocial revolution, leadingto a fundamental changein property and classrelations. Although fascism or socialismare possibleoutcomesof the current crisis,our focushere is on the moreprobable alternative of reform or retrenchment. Withthat in mind,we ask whatconditions producedthe new deal alternative in NorthAmericain the 1930sandwhatthat experience might havetotell us abouttheprospects fora new deal forworkersinthefirst decade ofthetwenty-first century. One factorthat numeroushistorianshave emphasised is thattheNew Deal ingeneraland labourrights inparticular didnotcomeaboutprimarily as a top-downresponseof to theGreat Depression. Rather, inboththeUnited States and Canada millionsof workers,employed and unemployed, organised outsidetheframework of existing parties andestablished labourunions, to demand governmentaction. In Canada, for example,unemployed workersformed associationsto demand real jobs and unemployment insurance. Theyoccupiedbuildings in citiesand organised a marchon Ottawa,thenation'scapital , which was brokenup withdeadly force. Across North America, employed workers mobilisedin theirworkplacesand organised unionswithout waitingforunionsto organise them. Awaveofindustrial strike activity putpressureon thegovernment to act.Political leaders recognisedthatprovidingreliefto employers alonewas notgoingtobe enough.Thedemands ofworkers forcollective bargaining rights, minimumstandards and social security, amongothers ,also had to be partially metto resolvethe social and politicalcrisistriggered by the economicone . Of course,the politicalresponseto worker mobilisation was not solelydetermined by the breadthand intensity of the movementfrom below.Rather thana newdeal,there might have been reaction and repression. Thus,thepolitical and ideologicalorientation ofthegovernment in powerwas also crucialto theoutcomeofworker mobilisations. This factor, forexample,may helpexplainthedifference inthetiming and the shape oftheAmerican and Canadiannew deals. TheRoosevelt administration movedmorequicklyand strongly to implement Keynesian policies, ofwhichlabourrights werea component, than the Conservative Bennettand thenthe Liberal Kinggovernments inCanada. Getting labour rights enacted,however,was onlyhalfthebattle. Action from belowwas also necessary to makethoserights effective. In the As the global financialcrisis has deepened inevitable comparisons have been drawnwith the Great Depression ofthe 1920s and 30s ERIC TUCKER isProfessor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada Pages Volume 16Issuel 2009 INTERNATIONAL union rights FOCUS □ LABOURRIGHTSANDTHE GLOBALECONOMY I potential insights the Tucker Canadian on offer whether current historian comparisons labour any considers as effect labour useful to rights these crisis Eric the of historianEric Tuckerconsiders whetherthese comparisons offer any useful insightsas to the potentialeffectof the currentcrisis on labourrights United States, forexample,autoworkers andothersoccupiedfactories after theenactment ofthe collectivebargaining legislation to gain union recognition and bringtheiremployersto the table.In Canada,wherestatutory collective bargainingwas onlyintroduced in responseto a strike wave during World WarII, a massivepostwar strike wave was necessary to getthatnew regime firmly institutionalised. Insum,thecreation ofa newdealfor labourin the1930'sand 40's might bestbe considered as...

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