The Resolving Mechanism Of Labor Disputes During The First Half Of The 19th Century Britain:Legislation And Practice

During the first half of the 19th century, British society was experiencing a dramatic change and the industrial revolution not only created a fierce labor confrontation, but also facilitated the rise and development of labor conflict resolution mechanism. In the first half of the 19th century, the number of workers continued to grow, and the trade unions gradually formed on the basis of the trades, regions and country. As factory workers became the main body, and industrialization brought great achievements to improve the lives of workers, the conservative trade unionism focused on economic struggle, and advocated peace through negotiation to resolve labor disputes, and gradually dominated the workers’ movement of the period. Faced with the threat of the workers’ movement, employers consolidated by the way of the formation of employers’ organizations. In order to avoid the economic losses arising from direct confrontation and safeguard the interests of the industry, employers began to accept the trade unions, and gradually gave up their oppositive and confrontational attitude in favor of the trade unions, and reconciled with the trade unions, even seek the effective methods of negotiation and cooperation. At the same time, the public opinion also contributed to the peaceful settlement of labor disputes on the basis of equality and friendship.In order to avoid disturbance of the society order due to the fierce opposition between labor and capital, the government has advocated limited intervention on social economy, when both parties and public opinion began to change the attitude, and actively seek ways to resolve labor disputes. On one hand, from 1800 to 1854, the British Parliament has promulgated many arbitration laws, trying to put civil arbitration into the state control, and establish compulsory arbitration under the guidance of the government. These Acts contained a number of provisions on arbitration, expanding the legal power of arbitration decision, confirming the arbitration process standard procedures and legal effectiveness of arbitration results and providing a legal basis for the emergence of collective bargaining system and a modern legal framework. On the other hand, as a hotbed of labor confrontation, factory put workers into a miserable state:long working hours, work intensity, poor working condition, which has aroused concern from the British government. From 1802 to 1867, the British Parliament has pushed forward factory legislation to shorten working hours, and improve factory work environment, to meet the urgent requirement of factory workers, trying to ease the potential labor conflicts, which have become an increasingly prominent social problem. In this way, the government was trying to regulate the labor dispute by compulsory arbitration and factory legislation, to some extent, which created the legal and social conditions for the rise of the conciliation and arbitration practice.When both sides began to accept to resolve labor dispute in peaceful way, and government as the third party began to play the function, and advocate the conciliation and arbitration by legislation, and also adjust the unreasonable part of factory system, the voluntary conciliation and arbitration rose, and was widely used in the labor disputes. Conciliation and arbitration practice also experienced an evolution that from individual, temporary to collective and permanent, and gradually as a collective disputes-resolving mechanism showed a normal trend, and provides a good foundation for the subsequent rise of collective bargaining system in the Britain.In a word, in the evolution process of labor dispute resolving mechanism, the rise of civil mediation and arbitration under the voluntarism is one of the main line. It promoted the rise of the gradual formation of the labor dispute resolution mechanism, and constituted the important part of the labor dispute resolution mechanism.