What's Law Got to Do with It? the IWA and the Politics of State Power in British Columbia, 1935-1999‪.‬

IN THE WAKE of President Roosevelt's New Deal for labour in the us, the International Woodworkers of America (IWA) experienced tremendous growth in Oregon and Washington. Fearing the arrival of the IWA in BC, the provincial government enacted the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration (ICI) Act as a means to stanch the growth of militant industrial unionism. It was at the company town of Blubber Bay, BC, that the ICA Act was tested for the first time as capital, labour, and the state struggled over the pith and substance of the new legislation. Drawing on the insights of critical legal theorists and neo-institutionalists, this article examines the multiple ways in which the state, law, and legal process shaped both the formation of the IWA and the nature of class struggle itself. In particular, it illustrates how the expansion of formal collective bargaining, as well as the age-old legal remedies available at common and criminal law, worked together to set limits and erect boundaries on collective working-class action and, in the end, forge a "responsible union." A LA SUITE DU NOUVEL accord sur la main-d'oeuvre signe par le president Roosevelt des Etats-Unis, le syndicat International Woodworkers of America (IWA) a connu une croissance incroyable en Oregon et dans l'etat de Washington. Craignant l'arrivee du syndicat IWA en Colombie-Britannique, le gouvernement provincial a adopte la Loi sur la reconciliation et l'arbitrage industriel pour arreter la croissance du syndicalisme industriel militant. C'est a Blubber Bay que cette loi a ete mise a l'epreuve pour la premiere fois lorsque les capitalistes, les ouvriers et l'Etat se heurterent sur le contenu essentiel de la nouvelle legislation. Grace a la perspicacite des theoriciens juridiques et neo-institutionalistes, cet article examine les nombreux moyens par lesquels l'Etat, la loi et le processus juridique ont faconne le developpement du syndicat IWA et la nature meme de la lutte des classes. En particulier, il montre comment la negociation collective ainsi que les recours legaux en droit civil et criminel qui existent depuis longtemps, ont permis aux syndicalistes d'etablir les limites de cette action collective de la classe ouvriere et, a la fin, de fonder un syndicat responsable .