Labor Law Goes Off to War (1914–1918)

This article attempts to test the assumption of a continuity between the individualistic formats which prevailed before 1914 in labour law, and those collective formats which were adopted in the 1920’s, while insisting on the “plasticity” of labour law. This latter, whose provisions have been significantly weakened, has been opened to some original regulation formats which have made it possible to compensate the profound “imbalance” between a legal protection essentially individualistic, and a collective right. This latter was slowed in the pre-war period by a will for independence by the French trade unionism, a lack of precision in the status of collective conventions, and a proliferation of industrial disputes. Such a process developed as a counter-current to the homogenisation movement which had taken shape from the start of the 20’th century in labour legislation. This in fact resulted in a fragmentation of the law, and in a diversification without precedent in the status of the work force mobilized by the war effort. Careful for reasons of social peace and productive efficiency to combat this double risk of explosion, the labour policies of Albert Thomas explored original forms for work status and collective arbitration, while supporting the development of collective agreements. The war thus favoured the emergence of a collective right which held promise for new industrial relations, and which led to a significant movement for extending collective agreements up until the end of the 1920’s.