Les prud'hommes: juges ou arbitres?

Can " Prudhommes " (a judicial board composed of employers and workers) settle différences between employer and wage earner without, in one way or another, challenging the social order ? For a long tinte thèse boards had the job of reconciling rather than judging in labor disputes. However, in the 1960s, this function was put to the test by what is commonly called the " new " classes and their représentatives. Little by little social reconciliation justice was replaced by the penalization of social relations. To understand this change which led to a reform of thèse boards in 1979, it was necessary to look into the reasons for which the conciliation board's jurisdiction in its traditional form no longer corresponded to the expectations of the différent conflicting fractions in a redéfinition of social justice. This was done by a sociological analysis of the various interests at stake : those of management, the trade unions, the professionnal judges, etc.