Syndicalism in France

federation of L

eral outline of the constitution adopted at Montpellier must be giv

lated single syndicats (in that case only if there is no national or regional federation of the trade, or if the federation does

n of industry or trade, and to the Bourse du Travail of its locality. Besides, every federation must have at least one subscription to the Voix du Peuple

as it is the cause of struggle within the Confederation. It means that a large Federation has only one delegate and one vote in the Confederal Committee, just as another smaller Federation. The number of delegates in the Confederal Comm

s of trades and of industries and of isolated syndicats;" the second is "The Section of the Federation of Bourses du Travail."[183] The three

tions d'industries et de metiers. This section appoints its own secretary, assistant secretary, treasurer, assistant treasurer, and archivist, who form the executive committee of the section. This

the organization of new federations and to maintain relations between the adhering federations. It takes "all measures necessary for the ma

title of Comité des Bourses du Travail.[185] The section appoints its own secretary, assistant secretary, treasurer, assistant treasurer, and archivist, and the

ation and upon the moral education of the workingmen;" its task is to collect statistics of production, of consumption, of unemployment; to organize gratuitous employment bureaus, to watch th

x from each section. It appoints its own secretary. The journal

anizers to, and to collect subscriptions in favor of workingmen on strike, to make propaganda for the general strike, and to promote "the penetration of this idea into the minds of organized workingmen." For this purpose the commission creates where

om each section; it verifies the financial reports of both section

ths, except in extraordinary cases. It executes the decisions of the Congresses, intervenes in

he Confederal Bureau summons the Confederal Committee and executes the decisions of the latter. The secretary of the "Section of Federations" is the general secreta

ch conform to the present statutes." The Bourses du Travail and the Federations of industries and of trades were, therefore, to pursue independently the activities that concerned them alone. The Bour

r of

ong

t

eder

or. Nu

icat

rse

eder

83

110

135

157

154

12

co?rdinate their activities and to influence larger groups of the working population. This has led to the pro

onal basis, and have amplified their services as employment bureaus. They are now systematizing their statistical work by making monthly and quarterly reports on the state of employment in their locality, on strikes, on the growth of organ

the so-called Sou du Soldat (Soldier's Penny). They send financial aid to workingmen who are doing military service, invite them to the social gatherings of t

their particular trade and industrial interests. The story of these Federations is t

Confederal Committee; Griffuelhes was elected secretary of the Confederation; Pouget, assistant; Yvetot, secretary of the Section of Bourses. In October of the same year the Confederal Committee was summoned to an extraordinary meeting to consider the question of the suppression of employment bureaus. This question had agitated a considerable part of the working-class for many years. The workingmen had protested ti

3, exasperated by the fact that twenty-five years of lobbying and of petitioning had produced no results, they decided to take the matter into their own

ion for some time and then to arrange protest-meetings on the same day in all industrial centers of France. December 5, 1903, hundreds of meetings were held all over France, at which the s

he Employment Bureaus within a period of five years, with an indemnity of six mil

ted the vote of the Chamber by the pressure of rebellion (Coup d'émeutes)" wrote the Journal des économistes.[190] The revolutionary syndicalists themselves considered t

cised with perseverance and energy, the employment bureaus have gone. This fact is characteristic. The General Confederation has the merit, thanks to the immense effort of the

ration itself. A struggle for supremacy between the two tendencies was inevitable,

l of 1,792 syndicats (against 1,043 in 1902), with 150,000 members. The Section of Federations of industries had received in dues for the two years, 11,076 francs; its total budget amounted to 17,882 francs; the Section of Bourses du Travail had collected in dues 9,016 francs an

any syndicats. This was the system of representation adopted by the Statutes of the Confederation in 1902. At its Congress the Confederation resolves itself into an association of syndicats; the Federations and Bourses disappear and their constituent elements, the syndicats

e prefer the reformist method, because we believe that direct and violent action, commended by the anarchists, will cost thousands of workingmen their lives, without assuring durable results."[192] He insisted that it was necessary to try conciliatory methods before declaring strikes and to solicit the help of representatives in the legislative bodies. He showed

eir speeches adherence to the ideas, described in the preceding chapters, on the State, on direct action, etc. The

revolutionary syndicalists had advocated proportional representation as a means of finding out the real strength of the various tendencies in the Confederation. But after the Confederation became decidedly revolu

ee. This system, they declared, vitiated the character of the Confederation, and gave predominance to the minority. They claimed that the delegates in the Confederal Committee expressed the opinions shared by a small proportion only of the organized workingmen and that the Confede

force of the syndicats is in constant flux and that it would be impossible to find out the true figures. They claimed that proportional representation could not be applied to economic life, because it was no fault of any one trade or industry if only a few thousand workers were employed in it, while other industries required hundreds of thousands of workingmen. Even from the point of view of strength, they argued, a small syndicat

he day and the proposition of "reformist" delegates wa

attributed it to the fact that two-thirds of the delegates were new men in the movement and under the influence of the anarchists.[194] The revolutionary synd

estion reported that two ways of obtaining an eight-hour day had been indicated. One proposed to prepare a bill to be presented to the public authorities and to organize public meetings in order to show the government that public

and to exert all possible pressure "on their adversaries" was adopted by the Committee. The Committee argued that the e

uppression of the employment bureaus, it is

mber of shops were damaged, numerous collisions took place between the police and the workingmen, Paris was in a state of siege, and it was i

rried on by a special commission appointed for that purpose by the Confederal Committee "in order that beginning with the 1st of May, 1906, no workingman should consent to work more than eight hours a day nor for a wage

ad in tens of thousands of copies in which the meaning of the movement and its importance were explained. In the trade-journals, in the cars, in the streets, and wherever possible, brief mottoes were posted, such as: "Eight hours of work means more rest and more health," "To work more than eight hours means to lower your wages," etc. On the Bourse du Travail of P

March, 1906, a catastrophe occurred in the mining districts of Northern France which resulted in the loss of workingmen's lives. A strike a

ovement by spreading rumors that a plot against the Republic had been discovered in which monarchists and leaders of the Confederation were involved. The Voix du Peuple published a protest of the Confederal Committee against this accusation. Nevertheless the govern

is had not seen so many. Among the bourgeoisie a real panic reigned. Many left Paris and crossed the Channel. Those who remained in Paris made provi

tion affected 2,585 industrial establishments and involved 202,507 workingmen. The sweep of the mov

r of strik

hments N

kin

61 500

4 4,286

1 1,731

5 1,298

6 2,178

6 2,568

8 1,967

0 4,290

2 10,25

3 6,970

2 1,820

7 3,246

26 17,25

0 5,302

09 19,63

5 8,365 1

conciliatory methods and obtained a nine-hour day in about 150 towns. In some trades the strikes

complete failure.[199] According to official statistics,

ess Comprom

Strikes Establishments Striker

5 13 1,970 25,52

5 2723 28 994 30

82 7409 16 220 2

e large mass of workingmen the ideas which animate the militant groups and the syndical organizations. The problem to be solved, at first, was, thus, by means of a vigorous propaganda to reach the workingmen who

ndustries now counted 61 federal organizations with 2,399 syndicats and 203,273 members. The dues collected by this section for the two years amounted to 17,650 francs; and its total budg

roved by 781 votes against 115 (21 blank and 10 contested). But the main question which absorbed the largest p

y. In April, 1905, a "Congress of Unification" was held at Paris, at which the Parti Socialiste de France and the Parti Socialiste Fran?ais formed the Parti Socialiste Unifié. A common program was accepted and a new form of organization elaborated. At its first

rty was now unified, the reason lost all significance, and it seemed possible to establish some form of union between the two organizations. The question was taken up soon after the unification of the Socialist Party by the "Federation of Textile Workers

es; it was an instrument in economic struggles against employers, but by the side of this economic action, political action must be carried on to obtain protective labor legislation. For this purpose he considered it necessary to maintain relations with the Socialist Party, which had "always proposed and voted laws having for their object the amelioration of the conditions of the working-class as well as their definitive emancipation."[

eutrality. Against this "special politics" his proposition was directed. "When anti-militarism is carried on," said M. Renard, "when anti-patriotism is indulged in, when [electoral] abstention is preached, it is politics."[203] This anarchistic

d not place "too great hopes in legislative action and in the intervention of the State;" still he thought that the latter was inevitable, and alluded to the fact that the revolutionary syndicalists themselves were constantly soliciting the intervention of the public authorities. But to secure a success

eformists." They emphasized the "integral" and revolutionary r?le of the syndicat which makes it unnecessary and dangerous to conclude any

rary, the vitality of the Confederation is the result of a co-operation of various political elements. When, after the entrance of M. Millerand into the government, the latter began its policy of "domesticating" the workingmen, a co

. The defeat for the political syndicalists was complete. By an overwhelming majority of

confirms article 2 of the consti

, all the workingmen who are conscious of the struggle to

an economic basis, places the workingmen in revolt against all forms of exploitation and oppre

tic affirmation more precise b

of the workingmen, the increase of the workingmen's welfare through the realization of imm

expropriation of the capitalist class; it commends as a means to this end the general strike, and considers that the syndicat,

pinions or their political and philosophical tendencies, to belong to the essential group which is the syndicat; consequently, so far as individuals are concerned, the Congress declares entire liberty for every syndicalist to participate, outsi

conomic action should be exercised directly against the class of employers, and the Confederal organizations must not, as syndical gro

lete political neutrality, to the political syndicalist it emphasized the liberty of political action outside the syndicat; the re

w on a weekly rest (Repos Hebdamodaire) which was carried on by the commercial employees and by workingmen of certain trades. The movemen

Temps, "are valid all the arguments of law and of fact as against anarchy." Members of the Confederal Committee were arrested here and there for incendiary speeches and for anti-militaristic propagan

the south of France, and blood was shed. The Confederal Committee launched a manifesto against the government with the heading, "Gov

rs of the Confederal Committee for "insults to the army." The tr

enceau the murderer" (Clemenceau le Tueur) and called upon the syndicats to protest against the action of the government. As the strike in Draveuil was among workingmen of the building trades, the "Federation of the Building Trades," the most revolutionary syndical organization in France, took the lead in the movement, seconded by the Confederal Committee. M

he "Federation of Building Trades" decided upon a general strike and upon a demonstration for the 30th of July. Some members of the Confed

and the Confederal Committee together with the federal committee of the Building Trades called upon the other trades to join them in

ral Committee," wrote the Temps, "is not an instrument for trade conquests. It is a purely insurrectional Commit

the Federation of Miners with 60,000 members into the Confederation. The Federation of Miners had for some time expressed its wish to enter the Confederation, but certain difficulti

cribed by the opponents of the Confederal Committee to revolutionary methods and "anarchist" tactics. The polemics between t

Federations of industries counted 68 federal organizations with 2,586 syndicats and 294,398 members; total receipts amounted t

ocedures" of the government. The reports of the Confederal Committee were approved by 947 with none against and 109 blanks, "not because the members of the

ntation which was again advanced. It discussed the question of industrial and trade unionism and d

Yvetot (Secretary of the Section of Bourses du Travail) had been passed. But it was passed in a hurry, as there was no time to discuss it, a

pted the resolution introduced

peats and renders more precise

on strike in the factory, in the fields, in the workshop, when it has not the fu

keeping within purely economic limits, recommends the instruction of the recruits (jeunes) in order that on the day when they put on the military uniform they should be convinced that they

f the possessors, the workingmen recognize only the economic boundaries s

of the International: "The workin

diverting them from their demands, the Congress declares it necessary, from the international point of view, to enlighten the worki

voted against the resolution because of its anti-patriotic character, t

ting as secretary of the Confederation their candidate, M. Niel, who was once a revolutionary but had become more moderate. M. Niel was elected by a majority of one vote, and his position was very difficult in th

d the workingmen to sympathize with the strikers. The strike was successful, and the government promised to conside

ere was less enthusiasm among the employees, and a failure was inevitable. The leaders of the strike appealed to the Confederation for help. The Confederal Committee invit

l strike declaring that the miners were not ready for it. This speech, the revolutionaries alleged, produced an impression disastrous for the general strike. The bi

n circulated more persistently than before. The "reformists" formed in July, 1909, a Comité d'Union Syndicaliste to react against the anarchistic syndicalism, to realize the union of wor

congress was consumed in discussing the resignation of Niel, the accusations against the former secretary Griffuelhes, and the quarrels of "reformists" and revolutionists generally. Both side

ess on peaceful negotiations with employers and on soliciting the co-operation of the government. The demands of the railway men were: an increase in wages, one day of rest in the week, the retroactive application of the old-age pension law passed in 1909, and several other concessions relating to conditions of work and matters of discipline. The railway companies had refused to meet the representative

rrested the members of the strike committee and ordered the striking railway men under colors, thus putting them under martial law. A second strike committee automatically took the place of the leaders who were arrested, but it did not display much energy.

ting tactics of the "reformist" leaders and to the intervention of the socialist politicians who tried to make political capital out of the strike situation. The "reformists," on the other hand, accused the revolutionists of precipitating the strike and of defeating the general movement by hasty action on the Paris-Nord. Two facts, however, stand out clear: firs

m of action which was outlined for it at the congress of Toulouse. During 1910-1911 it carried on a relentless campaign against the old-age pension law which was passed in April, 1910. The French workingmen were opposed to the age limit imposed by t

ation and to the protective system. Meetings were held throughout France, and demonstrations were arranged; in

evolutionary tendencies in particular were endangered by the nationalist spirit and military excitement which was stirring the country. Meetings were organized all over France to protest against war and militarism; several international meetings were arranged in Berlin, Ma

Committee showed that the Confederation was not making as much progress as before. The growth of the General Conf

rkingmen in France Number of Federations of industry adhering to Conf

715,576 53

836,134 61

957,102 63

977,350 57

,064,000 53

al dissensions and struggles. As a result of the latter, many of the old militants who had taken a leading part in the syndicalist organizations ha

olution of Amiens (1906) known as the "charter of syndicalism."[210] The most important resolution, however, was that in favor of a general movement for the reduction of hours of labor, particularly for the establishment of the "English week" (La semaine Anglaise, i. e. half holiday on Saturday). The Confederal

xcitement of Europe and the general industrial depression. During 1913, the Confederation was engaged in fighting the increase in military expenses and particularly the passage of the three years' military service law. In May and June a number of revolts took place in the barracks, mainly among the soldiers who would have been released in 1913, had not the new law been made retroactive. The government accused the Confederation of instigating the revolts of the soldiers, and made numerou

es demanded that a general strike be declared on September 24, when the soldiers ought to have been released from the barracks. This proposition was defeated as an unwise measure. Among those who spoke against the proposition were some of the ablest representatives of the revolutionary syndicalists, like Jouhaux, the general secretary; Merrheim, the secretary of the Federation of the

nal Secretariat of Labor. These conferences have been held every two years since 1903 by the secretaries of the adhering National Trade Union Centers.[211] The General Confederation took part in the Conference of Dublin in 1903, but sent no delegates to the Conferences of Amsterdam (1905) or of Christiana (1907) because these conferences refused to discuss the questions of the general strike and of anti-militarism. The relations

ith the opposition of American, English, German and Austrian trades unions. The latter are the more numerous. Germany pays dues to the International Secretariat for 2,017,000 organized workingmen; t