ABSTRACT
Politically conservative groups have made concerted efforts to organize grassroots support in order to maintain the old Communist Party/working class nexus. The portrayal of Soviet industrial workers as posing the greatest threat to reform ignores the diverse character of the many unofficial workers' groups that have emerged and overstates their interest in political affairs. Michael Gorbachevs new economic policies mark a distinct shift in economic and social privileges away from the industrial working-class. Throughout the Leonid Brezhnev era, Soviet workers benefitted most from what some call the unwritten "social contract" of that time. Many unofficial labor groups learned that their workplace concerns get lost when democratic coalitions debate larger political issues. A majority of the newly-formed independent workers' groups can be broadly divided into two categories: those who have participated in the political arena and those who have stayed more closely focused on workplace issues.
