What next for unions in Central and Eastern Europe? Invisibility, departure and the transformation of industrial relations

The European Journal of Industrial Relations is the principal English-language forum for the analysis of key developments in European industrial relations and their theoretical and practical implications.

It embraces a broad definition of industrial relations and includes articles which relate to any aspect of work and employment. It publishes rigorous and innovative work on and from all European countries. All social science disciplines are relevant to its remit, and interdisciplinary approaches are particularly encouraged. A major objective is to foster cross national comparative analysis; for this reason, single country monographs are unlikely to be accepted unless framed by a strong comparative perspective. Work which relates European developments to broader global experience is welcome. Abstract:

This article examines union revitalization in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on two countries: Hungary and Latvia. Trade unions have not only had to cope with a declining membership base, but have also had to respond to austerity programmes and government cuts in public sector employment.

We argue that the inability of unions to provide a strong voice for alternative policies to the current neoliberal orthodoxy has been driven by a declining membership base, but also by weakened social dialogue mechanisms, limited industrial representation and an ageing membership profile, exacerbated by net outward migration in recent years. However, we find that unions in Latvia and Hungary have responded differently to these issues.

This article forms part of the special Issue " Crisis and change in industrial relations in Central and Eastern Europe "