ABSTRACT
Analysing the position of trade unions in the societies that emerged out of state socialism requires addressing both the influence they had on the changes that took place and how they were influenced and shaped by those social changes. Both are processes of continual change. As argued in Chapter 3, there are difficulties with application of a concept of dependent capitalism to these countries. Inward investment from multinational companies has meant dependence on imported technology, but its impact on employment relations practices has been a matter of adaptation and negotiation with internal actors. Domestic business and the emergence of higher-income groups have been more important in driving politics in a neo-liberal direction. Somewhat paradoxically, economic dependence, in the form of multinational companies, has created an environment in which organised labour can retain some influence. It may therefore be indirectly helping to hold back a neo-liberal tide. This is consistent with the view of Bohle and Greskovits (2012) who, in seeking to identify and explain differences between former state socialist countries, point to relatively high levels of welfare provision in central European countries as evidence of stronger resistance to a pure and free market than, for example, in the Baltic Republics.
