LABOR LAW

o Lenin: socialism, the conversion of private to public property, is the first phase
of communism
o Commun
KARL MARX  Common ownership would obliterate entitlements and difference of
classes
- Unified labor unions to enforce labor reforms  There would be no need for the state or laws as the people would imbibe
- Inspire communist and socialist insurgencies together with the rule “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”.
o Josef Stalin - United Soviet Socialist Republics
o Vladimir Lenin o Was formed through the proletariat revolution
o Mao Tse Tung o Birthed from the influence of Lenin.
o Fidel Castro
- Religion is the opium of the masses that prevents him from confronting his
miseries in exchange for heaven. THE RED REVOLUTION
- The communist revolutions produced the greatest recorded massacres, death
FACTORY ETHIC camps, genocides, and famines known as the Red Holocaust.
o Under the leaderships of Stalin (USSR), Mao (China), and Khmer Rouge
- Workers were made to work for endless hours in unsafe plants or farms (Cambodia)
- Industries competed for capital with maximum returns and minimum costs - Alexis de Tocqueville
- Unregulated, slavish, and mechanical work o Warned against the tendency of socialism to be contemptuous of the
- Cheap labor; workers could not afford the product they produced individual, to make him a cog in the overbearing machinery of the state
- Henry Ford
o American entrepreneur in the car industry
COMMUNIST MANIFESTO
o Popularized the 8 hours a day, 5 days a week working hours
- About the upper bourgeoisie and lower proletariat’s conflict in capitalist o He made his company competitive by making cars affordable to the masses
economics and sharing the profits to his workers who received double the minimum wage
- Capitalist economy - Cold War
o Private ownership is unregulated o The power struggle between UK and US vs. Russia and China
o Encourages hoarding and overproduction of goods o Capitalist Right v. Socialist Left with the welfare-state capitalists as the
o Craftsman has to work like a clog in a machine to keep up with the growing “Middle”
market
CAPITALISTS SOCIALISTS
o Workers’ labor makes the products but all profits go to the capitalist. The
laborer receives a value less than what he creates Labor rights and economic reform can Capitalism has inherent politico-
o Laborer does not anymore likes to work because it becomes a forced activity be achieved in a democratic process economic flaws: materialism,
to survive that makes the capitalist richer. Thus, the work has alienated him. without resorting to communism exploitation, private individualism,
o The worker has only become a tool for production. monopolies, abuse, inequalities,
- Superstructures perpetuation, fascism, religious
o Perpetuated the capitalist system propaganda
o Established politics, law, art, literature, and religion The class struggle between the rich and Capitalism widens the gap between the
- Laborers then have to take arms to resist the superstructures that maintained the poor is not true in a dominant middle rich and poor and eliminates any
status quo. Mere bargaining will not do much. class. middle class
- Revolution is necessary in this dialectical process of thesis and anti-thesis of
social classes leading to a synthesis of a classless society. Capitalist Right Socialist Left
- Perfect society
o Return to social ownership (socialism)
o Through the nationalization of economic resources
FAILURE OF COMMUNISM GENERALLY
- Marxism failed to solve tyranny and poverty due to the theory that the state must The anti-establishment spirit of Socialism spawned the deconstructive critique of
be governed by a single unified party that will do the central planning of patriarchal culture, Western systems and ideology, and industrialization.
economic activities
o Single parties breed corruption, absolute dictatorship, and perpetuation of
dynasties
- The abolition of private ownership kills competitive entrepreneurial drive. Further,
a controlled economy ignores globalization and market trends
- The fall of the USSR influenced China and the Socialists
o Deng Xiaoping
 Reformed China’s economic policies
 Opened its economy
 Became US’s rival
o Socialists
 Incesed with the use of violence
 Advocated human rights and legitimate political parties
 Redefined themselves as Democrats, Liberals, or Socialists

WELFARE-STATE CAPITALISM
- Balanced economic formula of communism and capitalism
- Favors basic services, regulation of industries but not complete control
- Favors laissez-faire deregulation

WORKER-CONTROL CAPITALISM
- Workers, not the state, will partly own the means of production by obtaining
significant shares
- Makes workers industrial partners in a profit-driven business

PHILIPPINE CONTEXT
- Commonwealth installed laws against the violent overthrow of the government
- Labor laws were passed with the aim of social justice (Calalang v. Williams)
o Employer’s Liability Act
o Industrial Peace Act
o Labor Code
- 1987 Constitution
o Has articles on social justice, labor rights, agrarian reform, people’s
organization, sectoral representation, nationalist protection, patriotism, social
welfare, and regulation of trade
o Endorses socialist principles
- Party-list groups for migrants, farmers, fisher folk, women, and employees have
secured seats in Congress