Participation et conflits dans les relations de travail en Univers socialiste; Réflexions sur le rôle du syndicalisme dans les pays de l'Est

摘要

Participation and Conflicts in Labor relations of the Socialist World. The article consists of three parts. The first describes the Soviet trade-unions : their organization and working principles on the local, regional and federal levels. The functional duality of the trade-unions — transmittal of governmental decisions on the one hand and defense of professional interests on the other — is also studied. The second part describes the participation of workers. It treats the trade-union organs (workers assemblies and production committees) and the collective agreements. One form which participation takes is cooperation in the production process at the time when production and investment plans are being elaborated. Cooperation is achieved by means of « activists » who are nominated by the trade-union. Participation in labour legislation is primarily concerned with resolving wage problems and with defining labour conditions and social benefits. Trade-unions contribute likewise to the education of their workers. This is done by means of publications, cultural establishments and the organization of civil services (committees for juvenile delinquents, civil « militia » and peoples courts). In the third part, a distinction is made between external and internal conflits. External conflicts are caused by political involvment of top trade-union management, by internal competition within the trade-union management and by trade-union intervention in the field of social work. Labour legislation and employment problems likewise contribute to tension. Internal conflicts stem from problems related to remuneration, from lack of respect by the management for the prerogatives of trade-unions and from the general social climate within the enterprise. The author concludes that tensions in labour relations cannot be avoided in the Soviet Union, but that the propensity for strikes is reduced for a variety of reasons. Amongst these he cites two. Namely, possibility to change place of employment and significant wage increases. Soviet trade-unions must be regarded from the perspective of the socialist enterprise and from the kinds of « participatory struggles » revealed by sociological studies which have been made on industrial relations.