👉The table of contents so far is here.
Chapter 13: Planned Economy and Working Life
13.2. Labor standards
Labor standards in a capitalist market economy are governed by the correlation between wages, which are the compensation for working (i.e., the price of labor as a commodity), and working hours. In other words, the basic principle is to guarantee wages commensurate with the hours worked and to regulate working hours commensurate with wages. However, in reality, this includes a large amount of unpaid work time, which is the source of "surplus value" in the Marxian sense.
Labor standards under a communist planned economy based on unpaid labor lack a compensation system known as wages, so labor standards are governed solely by working hours. While the determination of legal working hours is a policy decision, if a planned labor allocation system is established, so-called work-life balance can be implemented uniformly as part of a labor plan, rather than simply a matter of slogan or corporate effort.
For example, it would not be impossible to make a four-hour workday (half-day work), half the current number, the norm, in combination with planned work sharing. When it comes to unpaid work, discretionary work systems become easier to introduce and expand, and one might wonder whether regulations on statutory working hours will become meaningless. However, when it comes to unpaid work, time is the only absolute regulatory framework.
Furthermore, unlike labor standards in a market economy, which tend to focus on wage issues, a planned economy will likely cover a wide range of labor issues that cannot be resolved through wage issues, such as work environment issues, measures to prevent workplace harassment, and employment discrimination based on gender or other attributes.
Because capitalist labor standards are a type of economic regulation that is late-coming and external to capital's activities, profit-seeking businesses have a hidden intention to circumvent these regulations as much as possible. This necessitates a labor standards inspection system backed by penalties, but even this often does not function effectively.
Communist labor standards are fundamental and inherent value standards, and businesses that do not need to consider profits have no incentive to circumvent them. Therefore, although it is not true that a labor standards inspection system will no longer be necessary, a system such as labor standards inspectors with police powers will no longer be necessary, and labor standards will likely be guaranteed through something like an internal arbitration system within companies (as will be discussed later in Section 4 of this chapter.).
👉The papers published on this blog are meant to expand upon my On Communism
