WORKERS IN THE RUSSIAN-FEDERATION - RESPONSES TO THE POSTCOMMUNIST TRANSITION, 1989-1993

The present study examines workers' responses to the post-communist tr ansition in the Russian Federation from 1989 through 1993. It consider s how workers defined, articulated, and organized around their interes ts under conditions of simultaneous democratization and economic refor m, focusing on: the impacts of reform, particularly declining real wag es and employment security; labor strikes, including incidence, demand s, and settlement; activities of trade unions; political and electoral behavior of workers and unions. The study concludes that strikes and trade union activism have had a limited impact in shielding workers fr om the effects of shock therapy; that unions are divided and relativel y weak; and that labor exercises no coherent influence in electoral po litics.