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Multinationals in the New EU Member States and the Revitalisation of Trade Unions

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  • Guglielmo Meardi

Abstract

Fears of social dumping in the enlarged EU have raised the question of who can defend employees in the new member states. This article addresses the issue through case study research on US and German-based multinationals operating in the automotive sector in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. The evidence shows how trade unions and industrial relations institutions affect investors in different ways country-by-country, with some unexpected effects on the implementation of flexible employment practices by the investors. Foreign-owned enterprises witness cases of union revitalisation, breaking the “path-dependency” of post-communist unions, in spite of frequent employer hostility. Bottom-up factors such as production changes and local labour market trends are frequently found behind revitalisation, although foreign factors such as home-country models or international union solidarity occasionally also play a role. Such revitalisation, however, being company-based, raises issues on the capacity of trade unions to combine core worker representation with the defence of workers in the society as a whole.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:cdebxx:v:15:y:2007:i:2:p:177-193
    DOI: 10.1080/09651560701483261
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    Cited by:

    1. Hrvoje Butković & Jan Czarzasty & Adam Mrozowicki, 2023. "Gains and pitfalls of coalitions: Societal resources as sources of trade union power in Croatia and Poland," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 29(1), pages 43-61, March.
    2. Priit Vahter & Jaan Masso, 2019. "The contribution of multinationals to wage inequality: foreign ownership and the gender pay gap," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 155(1), pages 105-148, February.
    3. Richard Croucher & Claudio Morrison, 2012. "Management, Worker Responses, and an Enterprise Trade Union in Transition," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51, pages 583-604, April.
    4. Barbara Samaluk & Kairit Kall, 2023. "Trade union project-based revitalization strategies in Central and Eastern Europe: The Case of Slovenia and Estonia," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 29(1), pages 7-24, March.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Aurora Trif & Magdalena Bernaciak & Marta Kahancová, 2023. "Trade union revitalization in hard times: a mission impossible?," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 29(1), pages 3-6, March.

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