UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Striking with tied hands: Strategies of labor interest representation in post- communist Romania and Ukraine Varga, M. Publication date 2011 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Varga, M. (2011). Striking with tied hands: Strategies of labor interest representation in post- communist Romania and Ukraine. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:05 Oct 2021 SSTTRRIIKKIINNGG WWIITTHH TTIIEEDD HHAANNDDSS.. SSTTRRAATTEEGGIIEESS OOFF LLAABBOORR IINNTTEERREESSTT RREEPPRREESSEENNTTAATTIIOONN IINN PPOOSSTT--CCOOMMMMUUNNIISSTT RROOMMAANNIIAA AANNDD UUKKRRAAIINNEE MMMMMMIIIIIIHHHHHHAAAAAAIIIIII VVVVVVAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGAAAAAA Cover picture: Workers at the ball-bearings plant in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, listening to their trade union leader (taken by the author, October 2007) © Mihai Varga, 2010 2 Striking with tied hands: Strategies of labor interest representation in post-communist Romania and Ukraine ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT Ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. Dr. D.C. van den Boom ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel op vrijdag 11 februari 2011, te 12:00 uur door Mihai Varga Geboren te Boekarest, Roemenië 3 Promotiecommissie: Promotor: Prof. Dr. J. Visser Co-promotor: Dr. A. Freyberg-Inan Overige Leden: Prof. Dr. M. Burawoy Dr. B. Burgoon Prof. Dr. B. Greskovits Prof. Dr. M. J. Keune Dr. M. J. S.M. van der Meer Prof. Dr. J. Zeitlin Faculteit der Maatschappij- en Gedragswetenschappen 4 Abstract Trade unions have been a weak political actor at the national level in most of post-communist Europe. The situation differs at the plant level, where workers and trade unions mobilized and often took successful if isolated actions against employers. This dissertation asks why and how such forms of workers’ interest representation could emerge in a hostile context, which makes it difficult for workers and trade unions to mobilize, pose threats to employers, and break out of isolation. The study's overarching question is: What specific strategies can succeed in advancing the rights and living standards of workers (given the structural difficulties brought about by post-communist transformation)? The dissertation’s main argument is that strategy matters even under the harshest conditions. Successful unions ensured a situational definition connecting the workers' and the union leaders' perceptions about employers and thus ensuring that workers would back the actions of the union. Furthermore, successful unions calibrated threats they addressed to employers to the production intentions of the employer and to the employer's organizational structure. They also ensured outside support, at least in the form of state intervention. These strategy elements (a shared situational definition within the union regarding employer intentions, threats and disruptive actions adjusted to employer intentions, and outside support) proved crucial for defending workers’ rights and living standards. The cases studied in this dissertation are 18 contention episodes at 10 privatized plants in the Romanian steel industry and Ukraine's civil machine-building sector in the 2000s. 5 Părin ţilor mei 6 Table of Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................ 9 List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................... 10 Abbreviations of Names of Organizations Used Frequently in the Dissertation.................................... 11 Preface..................................................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 1: Theorizing Transformation from a Labor Perspective.......................................................... 14 1.1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 14 1.2. Post-communist Labor: A Theoretical Approach ........................................................................ 15 1.3. The Puzzle of Organized Labor's Continued Existence in Post-Communist Europe .................. 31 1.4. Dissertation Outline ..................................................................................................................... 33 Chapter 2: Labor in Romania and Ukraine. Two Approaches to Managing Worker Discontent........... 36 2.1. Romanian and Ukrainian Labor in Regional Perspective............................................................ 36 2.2. Managing Discontent in Romania................................................................................................ 41 2.3. Managing Discontent in Ukraine ................................................................................................. 48 2.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 59 Chapter 3: A Theory of Labor Strategy .................................................................................................. 60 3.1. What Is Labor Interest Representation?....................................................................................... 60 3.2. Strategies of Labor Interest Representation................................................................................. 66 3.3. Research Design........................................................................................................................... 94 3.4. Conclusions................................................................................................................................ 101 Chapter 4: Struggles at the Plant........................................................................................................... 103 4.1. Introduction................................................................................................................................ 103 4.2. Siderurgica in Hunedoara, Romania .......................................................................................... 105 4.3. COS in Târgovi şte, Romania ..................................................................................................... 114 4.4. ZAZ in Zaporizhia, Ukraine....................................................................................................... 123 4.5. KrAZ in Kremenchuk, Ukraine ................................................................................................. 130 4.6. Conclusions................................................................................................................................ 135 Chapter 5: Struggles for the Plant......................................................................................................... 138 5.1. Introduction................................................................................................................................ 138 5.2. Combinatul Siderurgic Re şiţa (CSR), Romania ........................................................................ 140 5.3. Steel Plant Socomet in O ţelu Ro şu, Romania............................................................................ 148 5.4. The Ball-Bearings Plant VPZ in Vinnitsa, Ukraine................................................................... 153 5.5. The Harvester Plant HMZ in Kherson, Ukraine ........................................................................ 163 5.6. Conclusions................................................................................................................................ 175 Chapter 6: Contention in and for the Plant. Emergence and Outcomes ............................................... 178 6.1. Introduction................................................................................................................................ 178 6.2. The Emergence of Contention: Off-the-equilibrium-path Actions............................................ 180 6.3. Outcomes of Contention and Strategy: Revisiting the Propositions.......................................... 187 6.6. Conclusions................................................................................................................................ 195 Chapter 7: The Difficult Road to Strategy............................................................................................ 198 7.1. Obstacles