Suchergebnisse

PurposeThe article aims to consider the relationship between foreign investors and trade unions in forging new labour relations and workplace institutions in Polish firms. The research focuses on the role of foreign investment and the agency of workers' organisations in the transformation of workplace relationsDesign/methodology/approachAn institutionalist approach is adopted which focuses on structural, institutional and political influences on workplace relations. The research is based on interviews with senior managers and trade unions in 15 foreign investment firms in Poland.FindingsThere is a continued presence of trade unions in brownfield foreign investments and the establishment of new trade union branches in greenfield foreign investments. Labour relations in the majority of the case study companies were characterised by managers and workers as conflictual. Efforts by foreign investors to introduce their home or global practices were contested by trade unions. A continuation of previous legacies was evident in the importance placed by trade unions on communication, negotiation and establishing agreements with management.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was comprised of transnational manufacturing companies and the conclusion cannot automatically be applied to other sectors where foreign investors have a strong presence.Practical implicationsInsights into workplace relations in Poland are provided which will be of interest to foreign investors and European trade unions.Originality/valueTrade unions have been neglected in analysing new corporate structures in Poland and this article addresses their role in the workplace and their interrelationship with foreign investors.

Cover; Title; Copyright; Contents; List of Illustrations; List of Contributors; Introduction : Between Entitlement and Reconciliation: Germany and Poland's Postmemory after 1989; Part I The Politics of Postmemory; 1 Shadows of Memory in Polish-German Relations (1989-2005); 2 History by Decree? The Commission of Historians of the German Democratic Republic and the People's Republic of Poland 1956-1990; 3 "The Law Alleviates Concerns": Legal Dimensions of Polish-German Reconciliation; 4 Eclipsing the Polish-German Past to Construct a Post-Socialist Polish Memory-Culture

The Federal Republic of Germany is the fourth largest economy in the world (after the USA, China and Japan). The economic system of modern Germany is a social market economy, which development began immediately after the end of the Second World War.The modern model of the social market economy in Germany is a compromise between economic growth and a uniform distribution of wealth. The center of the system is the business activity of the state, which provides more or less equal distribution of social benefits to all members of society.In terms of GDP, industrial output and the average GDP, Germany is among the top ten countries in the world. It has the second place in the world export after the US, although its economic potential is three times lower. In the European Union, Germany is an absolute leader in all fields.