Abstract
Generally industrialists are interested only in the net product of their operations and aim to maximise this product by turning the private costs of doing business into social costs, to be borne by others, usually the employees in the form of hazards. The objective of protective labour legislation has been abatement of this avoidance of private costs at the expense of third parties. But the goal of minimising enterprise costs is at odds with this goal of public policy. 1986 marks the 150th anniversary of the case of Priestly v. Fowler in which a suit for damages was brought against an employer by an employee. The present examination of class conflict over work and health begins with this case. The Union Carbide (India) Ltd disaster in Bhopal is also examined. Although laws are enacted, conflict between employers and employees is simply transferred to the courts or enforcement agencies. Workers' compensation and the implications of deregulation in the 1980s is examined.
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