ABSTRACT
Larger membership gives the former both economic resources and a stronger voting position within European trade union structures. By looking at the constellation in the field of European trade unionism, it becomes apparent that cooperation within the European Union’s international arena is shaped by significant power asymmetries between trade unions from the East and those from the West. The original idea of a European minimum wage was brought into the political discussion by a handful of trade unionists in 2004. By describing the origins of the concept of Social Europe as “pretty much a Western idea,” the Polish European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) representative points to the ambiguities among the different interpretations. As a former ETUC representative claims, the formation of policy positions was accompanied from the beginning by a constant “fear of the hordes from Eastern Europe.” A Polish representative of the ETUC claims that the concept of Social Europe is “pretty much a Western idea.”
