INSTITUTO "DR. E.RAVIGNANI"   24160
INSTITUTO DE HISTORIA ARGENTINA Y AMERICANA "DR. EMILIO RAVIGNANI"
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
The first attempt of labor regulation in Argentina: The ?Ley Nacional del Trabajo? of 1904 and the reaction of working-class organizations
Autor/es:
LUCAS POY
Lugar:
Buenos Aires
Reunión:
Conferencia; The 36th International Labour Process Conference 2018; 2018
Resumen:
In the first months of 1904, in a context of intense labor unrest, the executive branch presented to Congress a bill that became known as the National Labor Law ("Ley Nacional del Trabajo"). The bill included a long report, signed by the minister Joaquín V. González and the president Julio A. Roca, and a very extensive set of rules designed to regulate the labor market, the labor processand ?last but not least? also the workers? organizations. By that time, Argentina had a growing capitalist economy, a young and radical labor movement, and no labor regulations whatsoever ?in this context, the bill was the first attempt of regulating the relations between capital and labor and, not surprisingly, it sparked an important debate not only in the chamber itself but also among the ranks of workers and capitalists alike. Although it never became a law, as it was rejected in Parliament, the bill became an iconic reference in the history of labor regulations in Argentina. In this presentation, I will briefly introduce the main characteristics of the proposed bill and I willfocus on the reactions that working class organizations developed towards it. While anarchistoriented groups and unions made clear its complete rejection towards an initiative that was seen another intervention of an authoritarian state, the Socialist Party found itself in a much more complicated position. Some of its intellectual and middle-class cadres had actually participated inthe making of the bill, but most of its working-class rank-and-file showed a big concern towards a bill that, while giving some concessions in the field of labor demands, established a heavy control on union activities. This paper will address these debates and tensions in order to better understand the reactions of working class organizations with regards to the first attempt of labor regulation made by the Argentine state.