Workers, Firms and Union: Industrial Relations in Transition

The book examines changes in workers’ attitudes towards their managements and unions in electronics plants in eleven countries, capitalist and (ex) socialist between 1984 and 1996. The book is based on original field work in the same or comparable plants at both dates. The book shows the inter-relations between global competition and national industrial relations systems. The first part examines changes in capitalist countries (Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Finland and Sweden), the second part examines socialist and ex-socialist countries (China, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia). In all countries workers identify increasingly with the interests of lower level management and in most countries are highly critical of trade unions.