Russia; a time for trade unions
Boris Kagarlitsky
When the new Labor Code went into effect in February 2002, many believed that
it spelled the end of alternative trade unions. The code stipulated that only
one union could represent the employees of any given enterprise. It therefore
came as no surprise that the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia,
or FNPR, a conservative holdover from official Soviet-era trade unions and a
close ally of the United Russia party, hailed the new code as an historic
victory.
The new Labor Code dealt a serious blow not just to alternative labor
organizations, however, but to anyone who attempted to stand up for workers'
rights. Strikes were effectively outlawed. The right to down tools was
included in the new code, but the conditions spelled out in the code made
organizing a strike all but impossible. This didn't bother the NFPR
leadership, which had no intention of fighting for the rights of its members
in any case.
The experience of the last four years has shown that the Labor Code may have
done more damage to the FNPR than it did to the alternativeunions. Not every
local FNPR official is a corrupt opportunist, embezzling membership dues and
making a killing on the sale and lease of union buildings. But whenever honest
FNPR leaders try to do anything else, they get hit with the full force of the
repressive
Labor Code.
Infighting has increased within the FNPR, and many unions have opted to leave,
most notably the trade union representing the employees of the Ford Motor Co.
plant in the Leningrad region. As they pulled off two successful strikes,
labor activists at the plant discovered that their own union was more
concerned about collecting dues than supporting their initiatives. By
contrast, alternative unions were extremely supportive despite their shortage
of resources and political clout.
The core group of alternative trade union activists held together under the
assault, although many labor organizations went under. The largest alternative
organization, the All-Russia Confederation of Labor, has survived in a
somewhat depleted form, along with the radical left-wing Defense of Labor
organization.
A pilots' strike at Bashkir Airlines in 2004 gained national attention. It
proved that the Labor Code could be flouted without exposing striking workers
to retaliation. As so often happens with bad laws, the Labor Code is not only
repressive in the extreme, it also contains obvious internal contradictions
and conflicts with other laws already on the books. The pilots at Bashkir
Airlines took advantage of these loopholes. Successful strike action at the
Ford plant was made possible thanks to an exchange of information between
activists at Ford and Bashkir Airlines.
The crisis in the labor movement is obvious. Membership in alternative unions
has fallen off dramatically. Union leaders left over from the 1990s have
proven incapable of meeting the new challenges facing their members. Some have
been removed from their posts, while others have lost the support of union
activists.
A new generation of leaders has begun to emerge, including Pyotr Zolotaryov at
AvtoVAZ and Alexei Etmanov at Ford. In 2005, members of the All-Russia
Confederation of Labor elected a new leader, Boris Kravchenko.
Change was in the air at a meeting of trade union activists from the
automotive and food industries and the service sector in late February. Most
of the participants represented enterprises opened in Russia by multinational
companies such as Caterpillar in Tosno, Ford in the Leningrad region and
Heineken in St. Petersburg. Trade unionists from more established concerns
such as AvtoVAZ and the Likinsk Bus Plant, or LiAZ, a major producer of buses
and otherheavy-duty vehicles, were also in attendance.
Kravchenko believes that the only way out of the current systemic crisis is to
organize workers in new sectors of the economy that arenot already unionized.
An aggressive policy of expansion, coupled with greater democracy within
unions themselves, could make the difference.
What FNPR officials have failed
to grasp is that new enterprises provide optimal conditions for trade union
activities. Unlike the old, often moribund plants left over from the Soviet
era, the new enterprises are largely run along Western lines. Trade unions can
operate effectively in this environment, and the leaders of alternative unions
see little point in working with the FNPR.
The rebirth of the trade union movement is underway, and it could signal the
beginning of the end for the FNPR.
This piece first appeared at https://www.tni.org/archives/kagarlitsky/time.htm
March 2006
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