John Thirkell

Labor relations and political change in eastern Europe : a comparative perspective

Bespreking van: J. Thirkell,Labour Relations and Political Change in Eastern Europe: A Comparative Perspective : ,1997

Instrumental Rationality and European Integration: Transfer or Avoidance of Industrial Relations Institutions in Central and Eastern Europe?

This article reviews the early phase of transformation of industrial relations in central and eastern Europe (CEE). It considers how far these countries have been able to consolidate institutions based on western European models and processes: an index of the ability of the European Union to influence institutional development. After summarizing the main features of industrial relations change in CEE, the article examines works councils as an emblematic case of the development of an industrial relations institution. The discussion concludes by outlining the limits of the impact of the EU on the development of industrial relations in CEE.

The disclosure of company information to trade unions: The relevance of the ACAS Code of Practice on Disclosure☆

Abstract In the light of recent empirical work, this paper examines the place of information disclosure in the development of both management industrial relations strategies and domestic trade union strategies involving the use of information at site and company level. The need to link information to specific issues, and the importance for both management and trade unions of institutional development, are then considered and illustrated in relation to some of the issues that emerged during the period of study. Finally, taking account of the research findings, some suggestions are put forward for the development of the ACAS Code of Practice on Disclosure of Information.

Enterprise Strategies and Labour Relations in Central and Eastern Europe

The majority of contemporary discussions of transformation in Eastern Europe are focused around either political changes or macroeconomic developments; enterprise-level labour relations have received considerably less attention. The institutionalization of new patterns of labour relations is highly contingent upon the prevailing economic and political conditions and this may lead some to argue that it is too early to try to study labour relations at the enterprise level. The function of this chapter, however, is to argue that developments at this level are a constituent element in change processes. The discussion draws upon research on processes of change in labour relations in Bulgaria, Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, Poland and the Novosibirsk region of Russia. It has been a basic hypothesis of our research that privatization of large state enterprises, and the resulting weakening in centralized control of the economy, would radically alter the context for labour relations in Eastern Europe and in particular, would greatly enhance the opportunities for strategy formulation at enterprise level.

Trade Unions, Political Parties and Governments in Bulgaria, 1989–92

In the unstable conditions of political change in Bulgaria there has been space for the trade‐union confederations ‐ both that stemming from the communist period and those created since 1989 ‐ to operate in the political arena as driving forces for economic and political change. The most important institutional mechanism for this has been tripartite negotiations involving government, the employer organizations and the trade unions. The development of tripartism in Bulgaria has not, however, been unilinear, but has expanded and contracted with changes in governments. The scope for tripartism has been greatest when there has been either a coalition or a non‐party government ‐ and such circumstances have been the outcome of failures by political parties to establish stable and enduring governments.