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  4. Statute of the Trade Union ‘Mutual Aid Society of Private Employees’ of Galicia (1867): An Analytical Review of Historical and Legal Foundations

Statute of the Trade Union ‘Mutual Aid Society of Private Employees’ of Galicia (1867): An Analytical Review of Historical and Legal Foundations

КК.
2025;
Volume 48, Number 2
: pp. 143 - 154
https://doi.org/10.32403/2411-3611-2025-2-48-143-154
Authors:
  1. I. Ya. Khoma
1
Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences Lviv Polytechnic National University

The article offers a comprehensive historical and legal analysis of the 1867 Statute of the ‘Mutual Aid Society of Private Employees of Galicia,’ one of the earliest and most influential documents regulating the social protection and collective self­organization of private clerical workers in Habsburg Galicia. The study examines the conceptual foundations, structural composition, and functional mechanisms embedded in the Statute, which aimed to enhance the material and moral well­being of private employees through a system of solidarity­based assistance. Special attention is devoted to the principles of membership, the multi­level administrative structure, and the financial model that combined centralized funds with locally administered county aid funds. These mechanisms ensured both the stability of long­term pensions and the flexibility of immediate assistance.
The analysis further highlights how the Statute codified early forms of professional ethics and disciplinary responsibility, introducing requirements of impeccable reputation, adherence to moral norms, and financial reliability as essential conditions for membership. Using archival evidence and contemporary reports, the article investigates the practical implementation of the Statute during the Society’s first years of operation, revealing both its organizational effectiveness and structural challenges, including financial arrears, insufficient administrative capacity in county branches, and the need for statutory revisions. Despite these limitations, the Statute played a decisive role in shaping the professional identity of private employees and establishing institutional models of mutual aid that preceded modern social insurance frameworks.
Overall, the study demonstrates that the 1867 Statute was not only a regulatory document but also an important instrument of social modernization, reflecting broader European trends in the development of workers’ mutual aid societies. Its analysis contributes to the understanding of the evolution of trade union traditions, civic self-organization, and early welfare practices in Central and Eastern Europe.

trade union movement
trade union
Galicia
press
mutual aid society
statute
social solidarity
newspaper
self­-governance
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