IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v24y2010i2p221-240.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Worker agency and trade union renewal: the case of Poland

Author

Listed:
  • Adam Mrozowicki

    (University of Wrocław, adam.mrozowicki@wns.uni.wroc.pl)

  • Valeria Pulignano

    (Catholic University of Leuven, valeria.pulignano@soc.kuleuven.be)

  • Geert Van Hootegem

    (Catholic University of Leuven, geert.vanhootegem@soc.kuleuven.be)

Abstract

Contrary to predictions of continued weakness of the union movement in post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, in recent years Polish trade unions have undertaken various revitalisation attempts, including campaigns to organise unions in the private sector. Although the existing literature accounts for this internal union transformation by referring to macrosocial and institutional factors, this article suggests that the emerging potential of union renewal is linked with the new forms of union activism and worker agency. This asser tion is based on an exploratory empirical study using 45 biographical narrative interviews with company-level union representatives in Poland.The analysis reveals the existence of ‘transitional’ and ‘reinvented’ patterns of union activism. The article concludes that new unionism in Poland does not resemble an economic unionism or broad social movement unionism as suggested by other authors. On the contrary, it follows a path that combines the reinvented union ethos with market-oriented strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Adam Mrozowicki & Valeria Pulignano & Geert Van Hootegem, 2010. "Worker agency and trade union renewal: the case of Poland," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 24(2), pages 221-240, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:24:y:2010:i:2:p:221-240
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017010362143
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017010362143
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017010362143?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hyman, Richard, 2007. "How can trade unions act strategically?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 39803, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jan Czarzasty & Katarzyna Gajewska & Adam Mrozowicki, 2014. "Institutions and Strategies: Trends and Obstacles to Recruiting Workers into Trade Unions in Poland," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(1), pages 112-135, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michele Ford & Michael Gillan, 2022. "Understanding global union repertoires of action," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(6), pages 559-577, November.
    2. Hugo Dias, 2021. "The evolution of Portuguese trade unionism: Political economies and power resources," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 237-254, May.
    3. Peter Fairbrother, 2015. "Rethinking trade unionism: Union renewal as transition," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 26(4), pages 561-576, December.
    4. Christina Karakioulafi & Kostas Kanellopoulos & Janina Petelczyc & Tom Montgomery & Simone Baglioni, 2021. "Patterns of Labour Solidarity Towards Precarious Workers and the Unemployed in Critical Times in Greece, Poland, and the UK," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 26(3), pages 739-758, September.
    5. Christian Dufour & Adelheid Hege, 2010. "The legitimacy of collective actors and trade union renewal," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 16(3), pages 351-367, August.
    6. Christian Lévesque & Gregor Murray, 2013. "Renewing Union Narrative Resources: How Union Capabilities Make a Difference," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(4), pages 777-796, December.
    7. Richard Saundry & Mick McKeown, 2013. "Relational union organising in a healthcare setting: a qualitative study," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5-6), pages 533-547, November.
    8. Christian Lévesque & Gregor Murray, 2010. "Understanding union power: resources and capabilities for renewing union capacity," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 16(3), pages 333-350, August.
    9. Tom Hunt & Heather Connolly, 2023. "Covid‐19 and the work of trade unions: Adaptation, transition and renewal," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 150-166, March.
    10. Santanu Sarkar & Sarosh Kuruvilla, 2020. "Constructing Transnational Solidarity: The Role of Campaign Governance," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(1), pages 27-49, March.
    11. David Lewis & Wim Vandekerckhove, 2018. "Trade Unions and the Whistleblowing Process in the UK: An Opportunity for Strategic Expansion?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(4), pages 835-845, April.
    12. Nissim, Gadi & Simon, Tomer, 2021. "The future of labor unions in the age of automation and at the dawn of AI," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    13. Catherine Le Capitaine & Gregor Murray & Christian Lévesque, 2013. "Special Issue. Edited by: Gregor Murray, Christian Lévesque, Christian Dufour and Adelheid Hege," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 389-408, July.
    14. Alex Pazaitis & Vasilis Kostakis & Michel Bauwens, 2017. "Digital economy and the rise of open cooperativism: the case of the Enspiral Network," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 23(2), pages 177-192, May.
    15. Maria da Paz Campos Lima & Antonio Martín Artiles, 2011. "Crisis and trade union challenges in Portugal and Spain: between general strikes and social pacts," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 17(3), pages 387-402, August.
    16. Sarkar, Santanu & Kuruvilla, Sarosh, 2020. "Constructing transnational solidarity: the role of campaign governance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101164, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Bosch Gerhard & Schmitz Jutta & Haipeter Thomas & Spallek Anne-Christin, 2020. "Gestaltung von Industrie 4.0 durch gewerkschaftliche Betriebspolitik," Arbeit, De Gruyter, vol. 29(1), pages 3-23, March.
    18. Andy Hodder & Paul Edwards, 2015. "The essence of trade unions: understanding identity, ideology and purpose," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 29(5), pages 843-854, October.
    19. Martí López-Andreu, 2020. "Breaking Fragmentation through Mobilization: The Development of a Collective Identity during Movistar’s Contractors’ and Technicians’ Strike in Spain," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(4), pages 661-677, August.
    20. Ruth Barton, 2021. "Trade unions and industrial regeneration in North West Tasmania: Moving beyond lock-in?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(2), pages 332-348, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:24:y:2010:i:2:p:221-240. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.