STRIKES - ARE THEY USEFUL ANYMORE - LESSONS FROM THE TRANSFORMATION OF INDUSTRIAL-RELATIONS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN-EUROPE

This article examines theoretical models and pragmatic results of stri ke-based collective bargaining, with particular attention to the effec tiveness of strikes in Central and Eastern Europe from 1989 to 1996. T he thesis is that the strike was historically utilized by workers in W estern Europe and North America as a coercive technique to secure econ omic leverage with their employers. However, an overview of worker str ikes in Poland, Romania, and Hungary during the aforementioned years r eveals the utilization of strikes as a ''political exchange'' transact ion rather than as a weapon to secure economic leverage against the em ployer. Specifically, the strike more frequently was employed by labor unions with limited access to the political system as a means of incr easing their policy-making influence. Finally, the article focuses on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) initiatives as viable alternative s to the traditional strike, with particular attention given to recent ADR efforts in Hungary as a model for interest dispute resolution bet ween unions and employers in Central and Eastern Europe.