Legal Commentary

Unionized French workers, frustrated with layoffs and cutbacks, are attempting both old and new(ish) strategies. These new strategies include bossnappings, in which employees hold senior managers on the premises to protest layoffs or other unfavorable policies, and aggressive sit down strikes, along with more recognizable forms of labor unrest like the recent strike at the Pompidou. American workers have their own clever labor strategies. The large inflatable rat first made his appearance in Chicago in 1990 and is now in common use. I wonder, though, why no American unions are adopting the bossnapping strategy. Why aren?t French strategies being transported?

           Some thoughts on this question- though I admit, they are just a first cut. Law alone does not seem to answer the question. By way of quick background, French law seems more pro-labor in some important respects than American law. For instance, French law dictates shop stewards and plant committees must be present in large enterprises. American law, in contrast, is more neutral in requiring unions to win elections (or gain voluntary recognition) before their presence is felt in the workplace. Yet in both countries, violence and threats of violence are clearly unlawful. It seems unlikely that French labor unions would expect a friendly reception from the state for engaging in such behavior. Nor should American labor unions be indifferent to new labor strategies since they ought not be particularly optimistic about their ability to succeed in the legislative realm. In recent years, their efforts to pass pass major reforms to the NLRA have floundered and the recent Massachusetts election may have put the last nail in the Employee Free Choice Act.

           So far, the best explanation I can come up with, though I?d be happy to hear others in the comments, is a historical/cultural one. From what I can tell, and I am no expert on France, the general public is much more sympathetic to labor movements. In fact, the idea for bossnapping may have originated in Jean Luc-Godard's popular pro-labor movie, Tout Va Bien. Students and other segments of the population strongly supported numerous French strikes in the late 1960s  My sense is that the American public, whether at large, or specific subpopulations, didn't and don?t share the same support for labor as a whole and for violent/illegal strategies in particular. While most Americans don?t have a specific knowledge of Haymarket square and the Molly Maguire Riots or other periods of labor violence, American unions may have surmised that the American public loses support for labor when they are seen as inherently criminal in nature.