Craftsmen & Labor Movement: Workers’ Rights & Conditions
Craftsmen and the Labor Movement: A Shift for Workers
Since the mid-eighteenth century, working conditions were changing due to the creation of new manufactures outside of any guild regulations. Owners fixed the conditions of production and hiring. The new manufacturing workers were often peasants who migrated to the city seeking work, as well as the existing urban population. They were transformed into proletarians, and even their children were hired to work.
This work, often asaleriado (wage-based), set the stage for a new working class that would be consolidated, especially from 1820 onward, marking the beginning of the factory era. Factories solidified this new order. Unemployment, low wages, long working hours, and harsh discipline generated growing labor unrest. Workers soon became aware of the exploitation they were subjected to.
Conflict and Early Luddism
Initially, changes in the world of work led to isolated conflicts. Workers’ associations, mainly formed by artisans, began to surface, representing early forms of proletarian organization. However, before the formation of labor unions could fully take hold, these partnerships were banned.
In parallel, radical movements developed, calling for democratic reforms and demanding rights and freedoms. Luddism spread to the industrialized regions of England and continental Europe and was met with governmental persecution.
Utopian Socialism
Faced with the emerging capitalist society, critical voices denounced the injustices of the new system and devised alternative ways of organizing society, giving rise to what became known as utopian socialism. These thinkers advocated social models and means to achieve them, though their methods were often considered idealistic.
Some, like Babeuf and Blanqui, believed that social equality could only be achieved through violent action. Charles Fourier advocated for the creation of phalansteries, community groups where property was collective and men, women, and children shared all tasks. Robert Owen defended the organization of workers in cooperatives without owners or fixed salaries.
The Rise of Labor Organizations
Stable workers’ clusters were thus constituted. The first type of labor organization was mutual aid associations, often based on residential proximity. Soon, the need arose to coordinate all the unions in a country. There were various attempts, including the creation of the National Association for Labor Protection in England in 1830. The failure of political action ended the association, leading to a period of discussions that resulted in the formation of the Grand National Trades Union (GNTU) in 1834. The 1830s marked the beginning of the expansion of unionism.
Chartism
In 1836, a group of workers founded an association that drafted a “People’s Charter.” The aims of the Chartist movement were:
- Universal male suffrage
- A salary for elected officials (MPs)
The charter was rejected by Parliament, and the Chartists failed to fully impose their objectives, though they achieved partial successes.
The Revolutionary Experience of 1848
In 1848, the role of workers shifted from England to the Continent, particularly in the Paris Revolution. They fought alongside the liberal bourgeoisie but retained their own forces and played an important role in the fall of the monarchy and the implementation of the Second French Republic.
The experience of failure led workers’ associations to question whether a republic could truly serve the interests of the workers or if an alternative workers’ state was needed.