Following collapse of Soviet Union many institutions of the communist regime collapsed. However, trade unions continued to function as practicable institutions. Soviet trade unions did not protect and defend workers as Western unions do. They were primarily administrative organisation designed to fulfil the plan the Plan and control workers. Political and economic reforms forced social institutions to fail or adapt and allowed new institutions to form.
Trade unions have developed and functioned in the West as part of a dense network of autonomous societal organisations ( including professional and managerial associations, political parties) that form to representing their members interests.
Russian civil society has no tradition or experience of such organisations and those that were created after 1989 suffer from weaknesses such as inexperienced and ineffective leadership, weak membership preservation and failures to consolidate.
Recently, a group of Russian researches suggested three scenarios for future development of Russias unions:
Their slow death over a long period
Rapid breakdown of unions at basic level and their replacement with new, independent unions
Cardinal reform that will transform these unions into real representatives of the interests of workers
A Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia continues to exist. Formed with the purpose replacing the official Soviet trade union organisations, the Federation unites forty-three unions. It boasts a membership of forty-five million men and women. This means that already 100 million have deserted the union movement since the mid-1980s; for the communist order made it virtually compulsory for individuals to join. The Federation, furthermore, exaggerates its present strength - and it would be interesting to know exactly how many members really pay their dues. Production in most industries has collapsed in the past few years. It would be staggering if people had not drawn the conclusion that unions are no more able than in the Soviet period to bring about an improvement of their working and living conditions. This idea is confirmed by what is known about the tripartite negotiations undertaken by the Federation, the government and employers associations. These negotiations were heralded as a means whereby the unions might secure guarantees for their members rights. But the positive results for workers have been miniscule, and the Federation has acquired a reputation for having a cosy relationship with the political and economic elites.
By 1998 this situation became embarrassing even for the Federation and its leaders called a general strike for 7th October. Even before the economic collapse in August, the unions were annoyed by the governments failure to enforce the payment of wages. Nevertheless the local branches trod carefully in approaching their members for participations in the strike. In Petrozavodsk, for example, the Karelian Republic Committee for Collective Actions supported the plan to withdraw labour but recognised that it could not simply issue instruction: it had to make a tactful appeal:
The question of participation or non-participation in this strike must be decided individually by each worker. If youre minded to defend your rights to work and payment, please help in the defence of the economic interests of those workers like yourself - and join the ranks of the strikers.
The general strike duly took place. It was supported best in Moscow, but elsewhere hardly at all. It had no impact on the policies of government. This was hardly unexpected. The financial crash of August 1998 was fresh in the memory of workers. It was far from clear that most businesses would survive. Fear of unemployment was consequently greater than the determination to obtain higher wages.
Strikes have had a greater impact when a particular industrial sector has been the target. But even the miners, who have been taken action more effectively than any other group of workers, have failed to secure durable improvements. Collective action is no longer as popular as in the late 1980s. Few societies can remain for years at a high pitch of excitement, and the Russian Federation is no exception. In any case, workers have an exhausting daily life. Most of them are too worried about feeding and clothing themselves to wish to take part in affairs outside the family or the workplace.
Strikes have not been unknown since the fall of the USSR. But they have been rare and ill supported despite the efforts of the Russian Communist Party to agitate for workers to protest against their shabby treatment by government and employers under both Yeltsin and Putin. When in 1998 the Kuzbas miners went on strike and even stopped the local railway network from working, it was the exception to the general pattern.
In general, the financial and organisational framework for organised civil associations is very shaky. Potential members of trade unions are often too poor to pay their dues. The same conditions that cause people to complain are the conditions that prevent them from doing much about them.
