The impact of the economic crisis on the changes in industrial relations in the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe

Enlargement of the European Union in 2004 significantly increased the diversity of industrial relations among the countries of the EU. In comparison with the countries of the former EU-15, the new Member States in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) were characterized by weaker trade unions, faster decline in union density, lower coverage of collective bargaining and their greater decentralization, and by the lack of statutory forms of information and consultation of employees at company level. The main aim of this paper is to examine the impact of the economic crisis on institutions shaping industrial relations in the CEE countries during the period 2008–2014. This article will answer the question if the crisis has accelerated the convergence of industrial relations, or even the opposite — further deepened the existing differences and what the responses of social partners on the crisis were. The paper uses theoretical and conceptual analysis methods based on a survey of literature and statistics (especially from ICTWSS data base and EU-linked sources such as ETUI and EIRO).