Fighting the decline: union strategies for survival in Romania and Poland

Labor weakness in Central and Eastern Europe has been most of the times explained by using path-dependency theories. However, these explanations are skewed for explaining similarities among cases rather than differences. This thesis contests the explanatory power of these models and argues that they fail to account for variation in the labor strength in ECE countries. Instead, it proposes a strategic interaction explanation by focusing on the coalitions, politics at the workplace and union’s innovative strategies in attracting new members. Therefore, the main premise of this paper is that labor seeks to improve or at least preserve its status by mobilization, strategic participation and broadening solidarity. Romania and Poland were chosen for making a case for labor strength both because of their similarities and differences. Initially, labor in both countries displayed higher rates of participation, protest and density than other states in ECE countries. However, by the end of the transition period Polish labor seemed to be unable to act and organize while, against all odds, the Romanian labor succeeded in keeping its relative strength. This is revealed especially by the 2000-2003 negotiations for the Labor Code.