Boris Kagarlitsky (Russian sociologist) came to Berkeley a few weeks ago and talked about this and other issues at length to various groups. He said he believed the proposed "19th century" labor laws were put forward to be knocked down...to make other less draconian measures look attractive by comparison.
But, probably, the best thing to do is to get in touch with him. I was very impressed with him -- with his activism and his intelligence/common sense and his commitment to a socialist program. I don't know his email address, but he does write a weekly column for the Moscow times: www.themoscowtimes.com, so you could try him there.
Joanna Bujes