Organized Labor and Restructuring: Coal Mines in the Czech Republic and Romania

Brůha, Jan; Ionaşcu, Delia; Jeong, Byeongju

doi:10.2139/ssrn.729365

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The potential reduction in employment or even the closure of all mines will not have such negative social and political effects as in Poland. While in Poland the restructuring of the HCM sector was very turbulent and accompanied by numerous conflicts between the government as the owner of the mines, on the one hand, and miners and trade unions, on the other hand, including the use of force during demonstrations by both parties, that is, by trade unions and police, in the Czech Republic coal mining restructuring was relatively calm: "in the Ostrava region, the miners' union cooperated with the government-and the government consulted with the union-which led to a peaceful process of restructuring despite the significant decline in employment." 71 as Zdenka Mansfeldová writes, strikes are relatively very rare in the Czech Republic. Trade unions instead tend to declare a strike alert which is announced during collective bargaining.…”

Section: The Influence Of Trade Unions On the Reforms Of The Hcm Sect...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Luddites of the Twenty-First Century? The Influence of Trade Unions in Hard Coal Mining on Sector Reforms in Poland and the Czech Republic

Kubin

2022

East European Politics and Societies: and Cultures

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There are only two European Union (EU) states where hard coal is still mined: Poland and the Czech Republic. One of the key interest groups in the hard coal mining industry are trade unions. They are particularly strong in this sector, almost entirely controlled by the state, in Poland—without their approval, it is in fact impossible to implement any significant reforms. The main goal of the article is to explain the influence of trade unions operating in the hard coal mining sector in Poland and the Czech Republic on the results of the reforms of this sector carried out in 2015–2019. The framework for empirical analysis is the theoretical output on interest groups and the power resources approach. Measuring the influence of an interest group on the decision-making process is one of the greatest challenges in research on interest groups. However, the empirical analysis allows us to conclude that the purposes of mining trade unions both in Poland and in the Czech Republic were consistent, that the shape of the reforms introduced in 2015–2019 was convergent with these goals, and that the activity of trade unions had a very big impact on these reforms. However, in the long run, hard coal mining in Europe is in decline and trade unions are only trying to stop what is inevitable.

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Section: The Influence Of Trade Unions On the Reforms Of The Hcm Sect...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Luddites of the Twenty-First Century? The Influence of Trade Unions in Hard Coal Mining on Sector Reforms in Poland and the Czech Republic

Kubin

2022

East European Politics and Societies: and Cultures

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“…In the Newcastle case, unions were instrumental in securing and negotiating redundancy packages and redeployment benefits for workers and in designing the "Personal Pathways" programme. Other studies, too, have concluded that cooperation between the state, private sector and trade unions has been a key factor for positive outcomes in places such as Germany (Abraham, 2017;Galgóczi, 2014) and Spain (IMRC, 2018), while failing to involve trade unions has weakened outcomes, for example in Romania and Canada (Bruha et al, 2005;Harrahill & Douglas, 2019;World Bank, 2018).…”

Section: Other Considerations In Designing Transition Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change, Trade, and Global Food Security: A Global Assessment of Transboundary Climate Risks in Agricultural Commodity Flows

Adams¹,

Benzie²,

Croft³

et al. 2021

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This report uses four case studies from across the globe to draw lessons on how cities and regions can equitably manage the decline of major industrial and mining activities, and minimize disruption to local economies. It finds commonalities among de-carbonization transitions in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and South Africa, expanding the scope of success from simply closing industries to including social and economic equity in the transition process.

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“…Miners from Jiu Valley protested strongly against the government decision. They marched to Bucharest on several occasions, and they fought with police forces to defend their privileged positions and obtain government assistance (Bruha et al 2005).…”

Section: Introduction -An Overview Of the Mining Sector In Romaniamentioning

confidence: 99%

Industrial culture of former mining communities from Romania

Radu

2018

GeoScape

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The paper aims to unfold the intangible elements that form the industrial culture based on the analysis of two former mining communities from Romania. Research conducted in 2014 in two former mining cities located in the northern part of the country highlights their particular characteristics and the strategies employed by individuals to cope with mine closure. The research found a strong occupational identity among former miners, which affected the way they perceived themselves, the surrounding environment and the opportunities they had after restructuring. The self-perception of what people could work hindered the economic redevelopment process. We found that after living and working for many years in a state-led regime, people expected the state to take care of them and to create new jobs in their communities. Even though many stakeholders acknowledged the importance of preserving industrial heritage for collective memory, few projects were implemented, and no mining museum was built. In both cities, a large number of people migrated abroad or returned to their hometowns to compensate for the job scarcity. Miners coming from other regions to work in younger mining communities experienced a lower level of community integration.

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Organized Labor and Restructuring: Coal Mines in the Czech Republic and Romania

Cited by 3 publications

References 4 publications

Luddites of the Twenty-First Century? The Influence of Trade Unions in Hard Coal Mining on Sector Reforms in Poland and the Czech Republic

Luddites of the Twenty-First Century? The Influence of Trade Unions in Hard Coal Mining on Sector Reforms in Poland and the Czech Republic

Climate Change, Trade, and Global Food Security: A Global Assessment of Transboundary Climate Risks in Agricultural Commodity Flows

Industrial culture of former mining communities from Romania

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