Weak Labour, Strong Interests: Polish Trade Unions and the Integration of EU Energy and Service Markets

Abstract

This paper examines the motives behind the EU-level activism of CEE trade unions, which are commonly regarded as weak actors. To this end, it studies lobbying and protest actions staged by Polish labour organizations in relation to proposals for the EU Emission Trading Scheme Directive and the EU Services Directive. The analysis confirms the salience of interest-based accounts of supranational union action, but it also shows that labour interests are context-specific, influenced by economic conditions and regulatory changes in particular market segments. In this regard, priority given by the unions to job preservation or the improvement of social standards has important implications for their positions; it also determines the selection of their allies at national and transnational levels

Underground waterlines

“…Adam Mrozowicki (2014) shows how skilled workers of the automotive sector across the region managed to overcome the oft en-cited structural diffi culties and build impressive organizing capacity. In the Polish case, union revitalization began in late 2000s, signifying the end of the "transition"-era weakness (Bernaciak and Lis 2017). Similar dynamics are observed among Romanian autoworkers (Adăscăliței and Guga 2017).…”

Editing ‘Europe’: Reflections from Inside, Outside and Beyond

“…Various form of industrial relations directly shape the resulting employment rights of individual workers and their ability to engage with capital. In particular, such research is concerned with the power of trade unions in the face of market imperatives as illustrated by Bernaciak and Lis (2017). Similarly, Harrison et al (2019) assess critically the limitation of labour standards by free trade agreements.…”