The Challenge of Transition: Trade Unions in Russia, China and Vietnam(Non-Governmental Public Action)

The integration of the former state-socialist countries into the global capitalist economy has eroded the privileges of the traditional working class and confronted a new generation of workers with low pay and poor working conditions. This book explores the extent to which the trade unions in Russia, China and Vietnam have risen to the challenge of representing the rights and interests of workers displaced from state enterprises and workers employed in the new global factories. Pringle and Clarke argue that the driving force of reform has been the challenge of labour unrest. They demonstrate that the extent of reform has been constrained by the political subordination of the trade unions in all three countries, and that the key to further reform is the achievement of freedom of association.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures and Tables List of Acronyms and Abbreviations Introduction State-Socialist Trade Unions in the Transition to a 'Socialist Market Economy' The Challenge of Worker Activism Traditional Trade Unions Adapting to New Conditions The Limits and Possibilities of Trade Unions in Transition Labour Activism and the Reform of Trade Unions References Index

About the Author :
TIM PRINGLE has been researching labour relations in Asia since 1996 with particular attention to China. He has lived in China and Hong Kong for twelve years during which time he collaborated with colleagues and comrades from the academic, activist and trade union communities. SIMON CLARKE is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, UK. Since 1990 he has been researching labour and trade unions in the former state socialist countries, in collaboration with colleagues in those countries and with national and international trade union and labour organizations.

Review :
'This is a unique and valuable contribution to research on post communist reform of labour, which combines comparative analysis at a grassroots level with the broader reform initiatives. The result is both an optimistic and realistic assessment of the impediments to further reform, identifying the key force for change, labour itself.' - Bill Taylor, Fulbright Senior Fellow, Cornell University and Asia Programs Fellow, Harvard University, USA, and Associate Professor, City University of Hong Kong 'This is vital reading for students of comparative employment relations, and anyone interested in the future of the labour movement.' - Sarah Ashwin, Professor of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK 'Tim Pringle and Simon Clarke offer the clearest picture yet of the ways in which trade unions in Russia, China, and Vietnam are struggling to respond to transformed employment relations and worker activism, as well as the obstacles to and possibilities for meaningful trade union reform.' - Martin Hart-Lansberg, Professor of Economics, Director of the Political Economy Program, Lewis and Clark College, USA 'A major achievement: essential to understand the prospects of those nearly one billion workers that have entered the global labour market after the demise of state socialism.' - Guglielmo Meardi, Associate Professor of Industrial Relations, Warwick Business School, UK