The Functions of Russian Trade Unions

Abstract

In previous chapters we have looked at the role of the law and of institutions of social partnership in the regulation of social and labour relations, and we have outlined the human and material resources available to the trade unions to carry out their role. In this chapter we will review the functions of the Russian trade unions and outline the ways in which they use the resources available to them to carry out those functions. We will start by looking at the new functions assumed by the trade unions in the ‘transition to a market economy’ of negotiating over issues of wages and employment. We will then look at the ways in which the trade unions have sought to perform their traditional functions, of the social protection of workers and ‘mass-cultural’ work, in new circumstances, before looking finally at their activity in organisation and recruitment.