Building the transition to socialism: The law labor projects of Federación Obrera de Chile (1920-1922) Construyendo la transición al socialismo: Los proyectos de legislación laboral de la Federación Obrera de Chile (1920-1922)

Abstract

© 2019 Universidad de Santiago de Chile. All rights reserved.The purpose of this study is to inquire about elaboration and presentation of labor legislation projects by Federación Obrera de Chile (FOCh) to the National Congress, during year 1921. Presented projects: Labor Chambers, Conciliation Court and Industrial Socialization Contract. These sought to deliver a high decision-making power to workers in the regulation of labor relations and labor market. The projects combined corporatist and evolutionary socialist orientations, typical of the union and socialist thought of the Chilean labor movement of the time. The adoption of corporatist ideas constituted a pragmatic and defensive option on the part of the socialist FOCh, in view of the reactionary situation that weakened the workers' movement. However, the ambiguity of such ideas favored the visibility of sectors within the FOCh that proclaimed themselves defenders of an evolutionary socialism that on several occasions became indis