Never underrate the power of French unions. Don't be fooled by their apparently scant formal membership, tenuous financing, and violent ideological disagreements, this article based on recent firsthand observations advises. The truth is that unions in France represent and have the support of a large segment of the working force for, under French law, certain key union contracts set industry-wide labor standards to which all employers must adhere.
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References
1.
See MeyersF., “Labor Relations in Britain,”California Management Review, Spring, 1961.
2.
Liaisons Sociales, No. 2156, 9 February 1959, “Les Conventions Collectives du Travail.”
3.
There is an enormous literature on French labor law. The two best general works are: DurandPaulVituAndré, Traité de Droit du Travail, Vol. III (Paris, Dolloz, 1956), and BrunA.GallandH., Droit du Travail (Paris, Sirey, 1958), and its 1960 Supplement.
4.
For analyses of the actual content of French collective agreements, see Liaisons Sociales, op. cit., No. 2156; LenoirGermaine, “Le Contenu des Conventions Collectives,”Droit Social (Sept.–Oct. and Nov., 1955); Association Nationale des Directeurs et Chefs du Personnel, Les Principaux Accords d'Enterprise, Documents, A.N.D.C.P. (Dec., 1956).
5.
It is probably also illegal. See BrunGalland, op. cit., pp. 156 and 965 and p. 17 of the 1960 Supplement.
6.
While an employer cannot legally dismiss a striker for the act of striking, two general principles of French law provide, first, that the contract of employment can be terminated (observing legal and contractual notice) at the will of either party, and, second, that an obligation to act or refrain from acting will be enforced only by damages. Further, an old doctrine provides that any right, including the right to terminate the contract of employment, may be exercised abusively. Thus, dismissal of a striker becomes an abusive exercise of a right, and the sanction is not reinstatement, but a damage award to the dismissed worker, measured by his actual loss incurred. In the usual dismissal case, the burden of proof of abusive dismissal, defined as dismissal either with malicious intent or culpable negligence falls on the claimant; in the case of a striker, this burden is reversed, and the employer must affirmatively show the commission of an offense justifying dismissal.
7.
For a successful suit, see: Chambre Syndicate c. Union Maritime, Cour de Cassation, Chambre Civile, Section Sociale (8 January 1959). The basic legal difficulty in such suits is the proof that the union, rather than an ad hoc strike committee or the workers spontaneously, is really responsible for the strike.
8.
For the best extended discussion in English see: LorwinVal R., The French Labor Movement (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1954).
9.
For example, C.G.T. first refused to sign the agreement with the Regie Renault providing for “Fonds de Regularisation,” a fund destined to provide partial compensation for loss of earnings in the event of a reduction in hours of work. When, five years later, Renault laid off about 3,000 men, C.G.T. pointed out its suspicion of the efficacy of the old agreement to prevent layoffs. See various issues of Le Peuple, the C.G.T. biweekly, October and November, 1960.
10.
For an extensive discussion in English of employer organizations in France, see EhrmannHenry W., Organized Business in France (Princeton University Press, 1957).
11.
For a most interesting description of the negotiation of a regional agreement in the metalworking industries, see TianoAndréRocardMichelLesire-OgrelHubert, Expériences Françaises d'Action Syndicate Ouvrière (Paris, Les Editions Ouvrières, 1956).
12.
International Labour Review, “Industrial Disputes, 1937–1954,” July 1955.
13.
International Labour Office, Yearbook of Labour Statistics (Geneva, 1959).
14.
Excluding the public sector, agriculture and domestic service.
15.
Revue Française du Travail, January-March, 1960, computed from this source.
16.
Most or perhaps all of the loss was before 1950.
17.
See: Le Monde, Paris, Sept. 13, 1960.
18.
The Regie Renault, the nationally owned automobile plant, has often been cited as an example of the best in French labor relations. Yet in the fall of 1960, faced with reduced production primarily caused by losses in the U. S. market, layoffs were made in a manner reminiscent of older practice, and provoked great employee bitterness, including short strikes and even the sacking of an office.
