Labour as Entrepreneurs. The Ambivalent Role of Labour in Restructuring in the Polish Steel Industry

• Authors: Trappman Vera
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The paper analyses steel restructuring at one of the major steel companies in Poland. It traces the restructuring history from the 1990s up to recent times, arguing that restructuring was heavily influenced by EU-accession conditionality and by the sector-oriented policy of Polish trade unions. While steel restructuring is often considered a major success story in Poland, this article, basing its argument on the life trajectories of the redundant workers, highlights the downside of a sectoral approach which operates at the expense of regional restructuring.

Keywords

EN

steel restructuring; restructuring; trade unions; regional restructuring

• Publisher: Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie
• Journal: Warsaw Forum of Economic Sociology
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 7-28

Contributors

author

Trappman Vera

• Otto-von-Guericke-Universität, Magdeburg Fakultät für Humanwissenschaften Bereich für Soziologie (SOZ)

References

• Bacon, N., Blyton, P. (2003), The impact of teamwork onskills: employee perceptions of who wins and who loses, "Human Resource Management Journal", 13(2): 13-29.
• Blazyca, G. red., (2002), Restructuring regional and local economies: towards a comparative study of Scottland and Upper Silesia, Aldershot: Ashgate.
• Bluhm, K. (2006), Auflösung des Liberalisierungsdilemmas. Arbeitsbeziehungen in Mittelosteuropa im Kontext des EU-Beitritts, "Berliner Journal für Soziologie", 16 (2): 171-186.
• Bohle, D., Greskovits, B. (2007), Neoliberalism, Embedded Neoliberalism, and Neocorporatism: Paths towards Transnational Capitalism in Central-Eastern Europe, "West European Politics", 30 (3): 433-466.
• Burawoy, M. Lukács, J. (1992), The radiant past: ideology and reality in Hungarys road to capitalism, Chicago London: University of Chicago Press.
• Crowley, S. (2004), Explaining Labor Weakness in Post-Communist Europe: Historical Legacies and Comparative Perspective, "East European Politics and Societies", 18 (3): 394-429.
• Dörre, K. Röttger, B. (2005), Die erschöpfte Region, Münster: Verlag Westfälisches Dampfloot.
• Dudley, G. Richardson, J. (1997), Competing Policy Frames in EU Policy Making: The Rise of Free Market Ideas in EU Steel Policy 1985-1996, "European Intergration online Papers", [EIoP] 1.
• Fairbrother, P. Stroud, D. Coffey A. (2004), The Internationalisation of the World Steel Industry. GPE Working Paper, 3, Cardiff : Global Political Economy. Research Group, Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University.
• Greenwood, I. Wallis, E. Stuart, M. (2005), Learners of the workplace unite! An empirical examination of the trade union learning representative initiative, "Work, Employment and Society", 19 (2): 283-304.
• Greenwood, I. Stuart, M. (2004), Waves of change: the retreat from multi-skilling in teamworking, presented at the 8th International Workshop on Teamworking, organized by the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management/University of Trier, Trier, 16-17 September
• Greskovits, B. (1998), The Political Economy of Protest and Patience. East European and Latin American Transformations Compared, Budapest: Central European University Press.
• Greskovits, B., Bohle, D. (2009), Varieties of Capitalism or Capitalism Tout Court, "European Journal of Sociology", (51)3: 355-386.
• Hartz, P. (2007), Macht und Ohnmacht: Ein Gespräch mit Inge Klöpfer, Hamburg: Hoff mann und Campe.
• Hertog den, F. van Iterson, A. Marti, C. (2006), Does HRM really matter in accomplishing strategic change? Comparative action research in eleven European steel fi rms, Maastricht: Manuscript.
• Hertog den, F. Marti, C. (2001), Management of Change and Human Resources: transfer of learning in the European Steel Industry: Final report.
• Eurofer and Social Affais Committee, Brussels. IISI (2002) Steel Statistical Yearbook 2002, Brussels.
• King, L. (2002), Post-communist Divergence: A Comparative Analysis of the Transition to Capitalism in Poland and Russia, "Studies in Comparative International Development", 37 (3): 3-34.
• Kubicek, P. (2004), Organized Labor in Post-Communist States: From Solidarity to Informity, Pittsburg: University of Pittsburgh Press.
• Kulpa-Ogdowska, A. (2006), Nowe uwarunkowania przebiegu restrukturyzacji hutnictwa żelaza i stali w latach 2003-2005. Perspektywy rzeczywistej modernizacji, in: Aktorzy restrukturyzacji - trudne role i wybory, ed. L. Gilejko, Warszawa: SGH.
• Kutter, A., Trappmann, V. red. (2006), Das Erbe des Beitritts: Europäisierung in Mittel- und Osteuropa, Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag.
• Kutter, A. ,Trappmann, V. (2010), Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe: the ambivalent legacy of accession, "Acta Politica", 45 (1): 41-69.
• Meardi, G. (2006), Social Pacts on the Road to EMU: A Comparison of the Italian and Polish Experiences, "Economic and Industrial Democracy", 27(2): 197-222.
• Minstry of Economy and Labour (2005) Employment in Poland. Warsaw.
• Mrozowicki, A. (2010), Coping with Social Change. Life Strategies of Workers in Polands New Capitalism, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Ost, D., Crowley, S. (2001), Making Sense of Labour Weakness in Post-communism, in: Ost, D. Crowley, S. red., Workers after Workers States: Labour and Politics in Postcommunist Europe, Lanham: Rowman and Littlefi eld Publishers, INC.
• Ost, D., (2000), Illusory Corporatism in Eastern Europe: Neoliberal Tripartism and Postcommunist Class Identities, "Politics Society", 28 (4): 503-530.
• Ost, D. (2001), The Weakness of Symbolic Strength: Labor and Union Identity in Poland 1989-2000, in: Ost, D., Crowley, S. red. Workers after Workers States. Labor and Politics in Postcommunist Eastern Europe, Lanham: Rowman and Littlefi eld Publishers, INC.
• Ost, D. (2005), The Defeat of Solidarity. Anger and Politics in Postcommunist Europe, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Ost, D. (2009), The Consequences of Postcommunism: Trade Unions in Eastern Europes Future, "East European Politics and Societies", 23 (1): 13-33.
• Pollert, A. (2003), Women, work and equal opportunities in post-Communist transition, "Work, Employment and Society", 17 (2): 331-357.
• Polish Steel Association (HIPH) (2006), Polish Steel Industry, Katowice.
• Randle, H. (2006), From a steel worker to a nurse - The story of Carl, in: T. Tikkanen, B. Nyhan red., Promoting lifelong learning for older workers. An international overview, Luxembourg: Cedefop: 155-163.
• Stroud, D., Fairbrother, P. (2008), Training and workforce transformation in the European steel industry: questions for public policy, "Policy Studies", (29)2: 145-161.
• Scott, J.C. (1985), Weapons of the weak. Everyday forms of peasant resistance, New Haven: Yale University Press.
• Sedelmeier, U. (2002), Sectoral dynamics of EU enlargement: advocacy, access and alliances in a composite policy, "Journal of European Public Policy", 9 (4): 627-649.
• Stuart, M. (2005), Learning in Partnership: Responding to the Restructuring of the European steel and metal sector. Leeds: Final Report HPSE-CT2001-00049.
• Sula, P. (2004), Comparative study on industrial relations in the iron and steel sector - case of Poland, Dublin: European Industrial Relations Observatory, EIRO.
• Sznajder-Lee, A. (2003), Still Restructuring? The Politics of the Steel Sector Restructuring in Poland and the Effects of EU Accession, in: 2003 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia.
• Sznajder-Lee, A., Trappmann, V. (2010), Von der Avantgarde zu den Verlierern des Postkommunismus: Gewerkschaft en im Prozess der Restrukturierung der Stahlindustrie in Mittel- und Osteuropa, "Industrielle Beziehungen", 17 (2): 192-231.
• Trappmann, V., Stuart, M. (2005), Lifelong Learning in the European Steel and Metal Industry: Results and Good Practice Examples from the LEARNPARTNER project, Berlin: Soft meer.
• Trappmann, V. (2012), Fallen heroes in global capitalism. Workers and the restructuring of the Polish steel industry, Palgrave MacMillan.
• Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (2005), Industrial Database Eastern Europe, June.
• Wallis E., Stuart M., Greenwood I. (2005), Learners of the workplace unite! An empirical examination of the trade union learning representative initiative, Work, "Employment and Society", 19(2): 283-304.