ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we examine the dynamics of social dialogue in Poland after 2008. Two unique circumstances are highlighted: the absence of economic recession in Poland and turbulent changes in social concertation. It is argued that the long-lasting deficiencies of the Polish industrial relations were temporarily overcome in 2008–2009 as the result of a fear factor (anticipated economic breakdown) as the main motive for social partners to exert pressure on the government to come up with anti-crisis economic policy. With the fear factor gone, the cooperation between social partners and the Donald Tusk government broke apart. In 2011–2015, the Civic Platform (PO) and Polish People’s Party (PSL) governments, with the recession not materializing, refocused economic policy on the public finance stabilization, where tripartite concertation would rather be considered a threat than an opportunity. In the context of economic recovery and the victory of the Law and Justice (PiS) in parliamentary and presidential elections in 2015, the revival of tripartite social dialogue did not take place. Instead, a mixture of “illusory corporatism” and etatism was reproduced in a new context.
