Marx then
begins his crucial analysis of Labour-Power.
“The
value of labour-power is determined, as in the case of every other
commodity, by the labour-time necessary for the production, and
consequently also the reproduction, of this special article. So far
as it has value, it represents no more than a definite quantity of
the average labour of society incorporated in it. Labour-power exists
only as a capacity, or power of the living individual. Its production
consequently pre-supposes his existence. Given the individual, the
production of labour-power consists in his reproduction of himself or
his maintenance. For his maintenance he requires a given quantity of
the means of subsistence. Therefore the labour-time requisite for the
production of labour-power reduces itself to that necessary for the
production of those means of subsistence; in other words, the value
of labour-power is the value of the means of subsistence necessary
for the maintenance of the labourer.” (p 167)
In the
process of working, the vessel in which this Labour-Power is
contained i.e. the human body, undergoes wear and tear of “muscle,
nerve and brain”, which need
to be restored. The more the worker works – either longer hours or
more intense activity – the more this wear and tear, and the more
it needs to be restored, meaning a higher price must be paid for it.
“If the
owner of labour-power works to-day, to-morrow he must again be able
to repeat the same process in the same conditions as regards health
and strength. His means of subsistence must therefore be sufficient
to maintain him in his normal state as a labouring individual. His
natural wants, such as food, clothing, fuel, and housing, vary
according to the climatic and other physical conditions of his
country. On the other hand, the number and extent of his so-called
necessary wants, as also the modes of satisfying them, are themselves
the product of historical development, and depend therefore to a
great extent on the degree of civilisation of a country, more
particularly on the conditions under which, and consequently on the
habits and degree of comfort in which, the class of free labourers
has been formed.” (p 168)
“The
labour-power withdrawn from the market by wear and tear and death,
must be continually replaced by, at the very least, an equal amount
of fresh labour-power. Hence the sum of the means of subsistence
necessary for the production of labour-power must include the means
necessary for the labourer’s substitutes, i.e., his children, in
order that this race of peculiar commodity-owners may perpetuate its
appearance in the market.” (p 168)
But, in addition,
It is obvious from these statements why these particular commodities
of health and education play a vital role for Capital in ensuring the
reproduction of Labour-Power, and why Capital has developed the
Welfare State in order to facilitate the reproduction of Labour-Power
at the lowest possible Value.
Because these means of subsistence have to be bought over varying
durations (daily, weekly, monthly etc.) the daily wage must cover the
daily average of the annual total cost of subsistence. That can be
assessed in money terms, sufficient to cover the costs of buying
those means of subsistence, or it can be viewed in physical terms
that workers require a certain number of calories, a certain amount
of shelter, clothing, education and so on.
If we take this average bundle of wage goods, then Marx says, that we
might suppose that it requires say 6 hours of social labour-time to
produce. In other words, 6 hours labour-time is enough to produce 1
day's Labour-Power, which then also equals the Value of 1 day's
Labour-Power. In a money economy, 6 hours labour-time might be equal
to three shillings (15p). In other words, the Value of 1 day's
Labour Power is 15p. Put another way, as we are assuming that all
commodities exchange at their Values, the price of 1 day's Labour
Power, i.e. the daily wage is 15p.
At this price/wage, the worker has not been cheated. They have sold
their commodity, at its Value, in exactly the same way that every
other commodity owner sells theirs, i.e. at its Value, determined by
the Labour-time required for its production.
And, as Marx emphasises,
If capitalists then try to reduce wages (including what today we term
the social wage) they will end up with sub-standard Labour-Power, as
useless to them as buying a defective machine, or sub-standard
materials. Similarly, if the prices of the commodities the workers
require rise, then the Value of Labour-Power also rises. Capital has
to pay this higher Value or else again it will only be able to buy
sub-standard Labour-Power. It can be seen why Capital has an
incentive in trying to produce the commodities workers need more
efficiently. By doing so it reduces the Value of Labour Power.
The capitalist buys Labour-Power from the worker at its Value, 15p.
The worker then works for the capitalist for the time stipulated in
the contract. The capitalist has bought the Labour-Power for its Use
Value, in the Labour performed, whose Value is now represented in the
product of that Labour. The product of the Labour does not now
belong to the worker even though they have produced it. The worker
does not sell this product to the capitalist. It already belongs to
the capitalist because the capitalist had already bought the
Labour-Power that created it.
In fact, it is usual that the worker performs this Labour prior to
even being paid for it, by the capitalist, a fact, as Marx points
out, made clear by the number of workers who fail to be paid for the
Labour-Power they have provided, as a consequence of the capitalist
going bust.
Marx
describes the other consequence of the time of this credit given by
the worker to the capitalists in advancing their Labour-Power,
especially where they were not paid for up to a month in arrears.
Having to live in the meantime, they were reduced to buying cheap
food such as bread adulterated with “alum, soap, pearl
ashes, chalk, Derbyshire stone-dust, and such like agreeable
nourishing and wholesome ingredients” (Note 2, p 171) The
Co-op identified as late as the 1940's that tea was being adulterated
with lead filings, and it was only the work of the Co-op, after WWII,
that resulted in legislation to ensure safe milk to prevent
brucellosis etc.
 |
| The Co-operative Consumer Research Dept. was responsible for highlighting many of the abuses of production by Capitalist producers and retailers. |
The consumption of the Labour-Power bought by the capitalist takes
place like the consumption of all commodities outside the sphere of
circulation. Consumption is at the same time Production. The
consumption of necessities by the workers is at the same time an act
of production of the worker, and his Labour-Power. The consumption
of the workers' Labour-Power by Capital is at the same time an act of
production of new commodities.
It is in this sphere Marx says,
“Here
we shall see, not only how capital produces, but how capital is
produced. We shall at last force the secret of profit making.” (p
172)
But, we shall have to wait until the next Chapter for that secret to
be revealed.
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