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The article discusses the development of French labor laws redefining the legal relationship between patrons and workers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The article describes technological innovations that led to an increase in the modes of production, the building of new plants and factories and its effect on inferior working conditions for laborers, and the changes in laws that prevented owners from ending employment without cause. Other subjects under discussion include article 1780 of the Civil Code which stipulated rules related to contract services, the French supreme court's actions to limit worker abuse by establishing a Worker Code, and the development of the French Labor Code.