Russian Trade Unions and Industrial Relations in Transition - by S Ashwin & S Clarke (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Many commentators expected the Russian trade unions to collapse along with the system of which they were an integral part, but the trade unions survived the storms of the Yeltsin era by adopting a strategy of 'social partnership'. This book, based on case-study and survey research in eight Russian regions, provides a detailed account of the development of trade unionism in Russia since the collapse of the soviet system. Against the background of the role of the trade unions in the soviet system, the book reviews the political role, structure and functions of the trade unions, development of social partnership at federal and regional levels, and provides a detailed account of the activity of the trade unions at the level of enterprise. The book concludes with a critical assessment of the Russian unions' strategy of 'social partnership' and locates it in comparative perspective.

Review Quotes

'Ideal Reading for students of comparative industrial relations and for all those interested in the prospects for the international labour movement in the new century.' - Richard Hyman, Professor of Industrial relations, London School of Economics

'This important study...brings together a vast amount of empirical data and keen analytical insight. A major contribution to our understanding of Russian labour, society and polity after Communism.' - David Mandel, Professor of Political Science, Universitié du Québec à Montréal

About the Author

SIMON CLARKE is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick. He has been researching trade unions and the labour movement in Russia, in collaboration with Russian and international trade union organisations, since 1991. He is scientific director of the Institute of Comparative Labour Relations Research (ISITO) in Moscow.

SARAH ASHWIN is a Lecturer in Industrial Relations at the London School of Economics. She has been doing research on the Russian trade union movement since 1991. Her previously published work includes Russian Workers: The Anatomy of Patience (1999).