The Russian Trade Unions: From Chaos to a New Paradigm

In 1995 the trade union movement in Russia celebrated its ninetieth anniversary. During the numerous conferences dedicated to this occasion, far more was said about the movement’s successes and achievements than about its real, often tragic, history. In the course of these ninety years the movement passed through the crucible of the class struggles of the early years of the century, and through the savage repressions of the Tsarist and Stalinist regimes. These fundamentally altered both its form and content. The development of the Russian trade union movement paralleled that of the trade unions in Western countries, but in the highly specific conditions of a totally statized economy. This placed an indelible imprint on the movement’s role and functions in society.