Labor Politics in a New Nation

• Author: Douglas E. Ashford
• Published date: 01 June 1960
• Date: 01 June 1960
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591296001300203
• Subject Matter: Articles

LABOR POLITICS IN A NEW
NATION*
DOUGLAS E. ASHFORD
Indiana University
N
THE THREE YEARS since Moroccan independence the U.M.T. (L’Union
t Marocaine du Travail) has become one of the major labor movements of
the Arab World.’ The support of the growing class of industrial workers was
vital to the success of the nationalist movement, which was organized around
the Istiqlal or Independence party. When the Istiqlal and the nascent labor
movement were suppressed in 1952, the urban workers were among the most
active participants in the resistance organization. There was no question of the
importance of the workers in independent Morocco for their sacrifice had some-
times been even greater than that of the elder nationalists of the Istiqlal. What
was in doubt was how the labor movement would fit into the new political sys-
tem. Over the first two years of independence, 1956-57, the U.M.T. seemed to
co-exist harmoniously with the Istiqlal and the fagade of nationalist unity was
generally preserved. In 1958 there were more and more signs of tension between
the Istiqlal and the U.M.T. By early 1959 the one-time &dquo;comarades&dquo; were calling
each other &dquo;fascists&dquo; and the two organizations became the foundation for oppos-
ing political parties. In doing so both the Istiqlal and the U.M.T. split. The bulk
of the old Istiqlal formed a splinter labor group, the Committee of Autonomous
Trade Unions, while the remainder formed the new Democratic Istiqlal with
strong support of the U.M.T.
The issues and events in this crisis tell us much about the rapidly changing
political systems of underdeveloped countries. An analysis of the Moroccan ex-
perience requires a brief elaboration of three interrelated characteristics of political
behavior in new nations. The first is the relatively small number of specialized
organizations that are comparable to those found in advanced nations. Second,
there is only a small number of qualified leaders; and third, the construction of
a political system suitable to independence is extremely difficult in a period of
rapid social change.
The vast majority of the citizens of a new country are isolated in primitive
communities, where many live in tribal social systems and precariously manage
to survive on a subsistence level of income. They are totally committed to their
local community which fulfills all the needs of their lives. The new country has
seldom developed the intricate network of balancing and counterbalancing groups
that are found in modern, industrial society. The labor movement is one of the
most important manifestations of modernization in a new nation. To enter its
ranks often means the beginning of an entire new way of life and, more important,
the
research for this article was made possible by a Ford Foundation Fellowship. The Founda,
tion is not responsible for any opinions or views therein.
1
The next largest movement in the Arab world is in Egypt and includes 250,000 members. See
J. A. Halsworth, "Freedom of Association and Industrial Relations in the Countries of the
Near and Middle East," International Labor Review, LXX, No. 5 (November, 1954), 363-84
and No. 6, 526-41. Some suggestions toward explaining the different development of Egyp-
tian labor politics will be found in the conclusion of this article.
312

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313
acquiring either a position or a claim to a position in the modern industrial pro,
ductive process. The citizen becomes specialized occupationally and, in turn,
identifies his special interest with others in an appropriate organization. Regard,
less of the many illusions the new citizen may have regarding the new life, he is
immediately surrounded with ample proof of its material superiority and with a
minimum of indoctrination can understand the manipulation of the entire system
on the national level. On this basis labor solidarity begins, although it may
often be reinforced by nationalist indoctrination before independence and by
distrust of foreigners after independence. In a general social setting in which
there are few organizations the labor movement can enjoy both the new support
produced by further industrialization and nationalist support from its efforts to,
ward economic and political self-determination.
The second closely related characteristic of politics in new nations, the small
number of qualified leaders, is partially a function of the weak articulation of
the organizational structure of the new country. In addition to this, however, the
traditional system of selecting and ranking national leaders has usually been dis-
credited, if not demolished, in the process of acquiring independence. Religious
or tribal leaders may still remain active in parts of the country or even nationally,
but they are singularly ineffective in the new setting. For many elder leaders the
organizational techniques used in unions and other modern associations are dis-
tasteful and sometimes looked upon as a symbol of capitulation to colonialism.
The development of the labor movement in a new country is undoubtedly one of
the most important schools for the recruitment and training of leaders having a
knowledge of modern organization and access to national politics. Colonial re-
sistance to the development of unions may have actually helped new leaders
acquire such skills, while the nationalists may have relied increasingly on mass
appeal as they met with resistance from colonial regimes. With independence
the elder nationalist leaders of the party may resist reorganization, but the union
leaders are already prepared organizationally to reap the benefits of independence.
The third corollary, which would subsume the above characteristics in more
general social theory, centers on the problem of constructing a political system
suitable to independence while undergoing rapid social change. In contemporary
Morocco probably no more than two million of her ten million citizens have
reached a level of education, income, or political experience that is comparable
with even the poorer European countries. In many underdeveloped countries
the general level of attainment is even lower. The minority, the politically active
citizens, must immediately solve many difficult problems of the new nation.
Simultaneously political and social relationships among the members of this
minority are undergoing change and new participants are being added, often
more rapidly than the advanced segment of the social system can assimilate them.
Adjusting to independence alone would be a major accomplishment even for a
nation with a more highly developed social structure; but many new political
systems must do this while also anticipating the impact of social change over the
coming generation.

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314
Since the trend is generally toward further industrialization, the labor move-
ment of most new countries can adjust harmoniously and with no apparent limit
to social change; it can probably do this more easily than political parties, which
are not as closely tied to the social structure in many instances. As a new nation
develops the labor movement may find that it is more able than the parties to
encompass the vital interests of a majority of the politically active citizenry. The
success of the labor movement, however, also depends on its ability to influence
the new government for the benefit of its members. If the interests and needs of
these persons were sufficiently similar this could probably be done with little
conflict or tension. The magnitude of social change in Morocco has precluded
this quiet transition.
The union, like the nationalist political party, may become the victim of
its own popularity, for it may find itself including such a wide variety of workers
that it can no longer claim to represent them all without enlarging its appeal
beyond the particular concrete benefits which it was originally designed to obtain.
The trend of social change as a whole thus attracts the union to participate in
politics much like a political party. No longer representing an easily circum-
scribed group of workers and lacking the necessary internal organizational con-
trols, the labor movement of a new nation may look increasingly to universal
loyalties of the new citizens. The most important of these is certainly the nation,
which has already taken on magnified significance in the struggle for independ-
ence. However, the very forces which seem to make increased political participa-
tion attractive may also serve to destroy the initial occupational solidarity of labor.
The union possesses no intrinsic advantage in trying to span the wide range of
social differentiation of a new country or in claiming that it can solve the be-
wildering array of problems created by independence. As the U.M.T. found in
early 1959, the political system of a new nation may lead a labor movement into
more active, direct participation in national affairs, but may also inflict on the
labor movement the schisms and tensions of the rapid political and social change
of a new nation.
BUILDING UNION STRENGTH
The Moroccan labor movement and the Istiqlal have always been organiza-
tionally distinct. One of the more surprising facts of the pre-independence epoch
is that Europeans recognized the importance of the growing Moroccan industrial
working class before the IstiqlaZ leaders did. The labor movement began in the
late 1940’s with leaders who had no background in the early nationalist move-
ment. Throughout North Africa the workers have produced their own leaders
and the political parties have...