CIRCUMVENTING TRADE-UNIONS IN HUNGARY - OLD AND NEW CHANNELS OF WAGE BARGAINING

This article examines continuities in the marginalization of trade uni ons in Hungary. Beneath the surface of party-led, bureaucratic organiz ations of the 'command economy', strong groups of workers engaged in i nformal wage bargaining with management. In the 1980s a special intern al contracting system offered core workers the opportunity to carry ou t collective wage negotiations, circumventing the formal trade union c hannels of representation. In the post-communist era, rights of union organization and collective bargaining are formally assured, but these institutions are not the main determinants of wages, hours, terms and conditions of employment. In particular, after privatization some for mer state enterprises introduced Employee Share Ownership Programmes. Employees who are share-owners gain higher income through dividends an d enjoy better job security and preferential terms and conditions of e mployment. In these companies, distinctions between core and periphery are now disguised as property relations, displaying surprising simila rities to the 1980s.