Going West, to the Great Unknown. Trade Unions from the Central and Eastern Europe and Upward Convergence of Social Standards in the European Union
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Abstract
The article examine attitudes of trade unions representing the New Member States (NMS) from the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) towards EU-level institutions and organisations and the Western (EU-15) trade unions in the context of upward convergence of social standards. Following the literature review of the evolution of industrial relations in the CEE in the context of EU expansion and integration, the analysis of data coming from the original research conducted between 2018 and 2020 is carried out. The analysis cover such areas as European minimum wage, Transnational Company Agreements, cross-border union cooperation, posting of workers, alleged protectionism/isolationism of Western trade unions, European social dialogue, the European pillar of social rights (EPSR); quality of relations between CEE and ‘old’ member states within European trade union movement, CEE trade unions perceptions of ‘social dumping’,CEE trade unions’ views on foreign capital (FDI) and its impact on the IR system. In the conclusion, it is observed that while East-West divide still exist, there are not many areas where the interests and expectations of trade unions from the ‘old’ and ’new’ MS openly clash, and in some cases, such as Posting of Workers Directive, there are even signs of cross-border union solidarity and cooperation emerging.
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