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Multiple strategies but small gains: Trade union revitalization and power resources in Central Eastern Europe after 2008

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  • Magdalena Bernaciak
  • Aurora Trif

Abstract

This study comparatively examines the relationship between revitalization strategies and trade union power resources in Central Eastern Europe. It shows that the post-2008 weakening of union power resources in the region served as a catalyst for a wide range of revitalization strategies, many of which included elements not documented in the revitalization literature. In most cases, union revitalization strategies involved the mobilization of organizational and societal resources and were geared towards (re)building statutory rights for unions and (re)establishing legal guarantees for workers. This ‘institutional longing’, however, left many organizations oblivious to membership decline, which may threaten their long-term survival.

Suggested Citation

  • Magdalena Bernaciak & Aurora Trif, 2023. "Multiple strategies but small gains: Trade union revitalization and power resources in Central Eastern Europe after 2008," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 29(1), pages 83-102, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:eurjou:v:29:y:2023:i:1:p:83-102
    DOI: 10.1177/09596801221148855
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Magdalena Bernaciak, 2015. "Beyond the CEE 'black box': crisis and industrial relations in the new EU member states," Working Papers 13554, European Trade Union Institute (ETUI).
    2. Anke Hassel, 2007. "The Curse of Institutional Security - The Erosion of German Trade Unionism," Industrielle Beziehungen - Zeitschrift fuer Arbeit, Organisation und Management - The German Journal of Industrial Relations, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 14(2), pages 176-191.
    3. Gregor Murray & Christian Lévesque & Glenn Morgan & Nicolas Roby, 2020. "Disruption and re-regulation in work and employment: from organisational to institutional experimentation," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 26(2), pages 135-156, May.
    4. Visser, Jelle., 2019. "Trade unions in the balance," ILO Working Papers 995046393402676, International Labour Organization.
    5. Chiara Benassi & Lisa Dorigatti, 2015. "Straight to the Core — Explaining Union Responses to the Casualization of Work: The IG Metall Campaign for Agency Workers," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(3), pages 533-555, September.
    6. Vera Glassner, 2013. "Central and eastern European industrial relations in the crisis: national divergence and path-dependent change," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 19(2), pages 155-169, May.
    7. Guglielmo Meardi, 2007. "Multinationals in the New EU Member States and the Revitalisation of Trade Unions," Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 177-193.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kairit Kall, 2024. "From a handful of activists towards an organising subculture: institutionalisation of transnational union organising in Central and Eastern Europe," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 30(1), pages 87-101, February.

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