Reinvention of Activism: A Chance for Union Renewal in New Market Economies? The Case of Poland

Abstract

While the diagnosis of the crisis of labour unionism is common to both the old capitalist countries in the West and the new market economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the question of union renewal in CEE has attracted significantly less attention from industrial relations scholars. In contrast to a growing body of literature devoted to the strategies of labour’s revitalisation in the West (cf. Frege and Kelly 2004, Murray and Waddington 2005), the majority of analyses of the CEE have dealt with factors of unions’ weakness rather than their possible empowerment (cf Phelan 2006). The weakness of organised labour tends to be explained either by the structural properties of new capitalist regimes (Bohle and Greskovits 2007) or by the durable cultural legacies of past unionism, which impeded the redefinition of collective interests and supported the hegemonic market ideologies (Ost 2005). Despite a straightforward logic offered by the ‘labour weakness’ thesis, its limitations become clear if we try to account for the recent signs of reinvigoration of labour unions’ activities in the region. For example, Meardi (2007: 503) noted ‘the resurgent “voice” from below, through strikes, organising campaigns, informal collective protests and collective bargaining innovations’ in most CEE countries. If structural and cultural contexts are as rigid as the labour weakness thesis suggests, it is legitimate to ask whether, and under what conditions, labour unions and/or workers are able to challenge these systemic constraints and what the effects are for organised labour in CEE.