Borisov, Vadim (2000) Strikes in Russia : the case of the coal-mining industry. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis presents an analysis of the character and significance of strikes in post-
Soviet Russia on the basis of a series of case studies of strikes in the coal-mining
industry. The central argument of the thesis is that the patterns of strike activity
have been conditioned by the forms of management and financing of the coal-mining
industry and by the strategy of the mining industry trade unions.
Following a review of the sociological and industrial relations literature on strikes,
the thesis opens with a detailed study of the 1989 miners' strike in Kuzbass. Here it
is shown that the original demands of the miners were taken up and generalised by
the structures of branch and local administrative power, and the strike was thereby
assimilated into the traditional structures of branch and regional lobbying for
resources in Moscow. This set the pattern for the subsequent organisation of strikes
in the state and state-subsidised sectors of the economy.
The coincidence of interests of miners with the branch and regional authorities in
1989 was determined by the centralised management and financing of the coal-mining
industry. The system of subsidies to the industry reproduced this structure
even after the `transition to a market economy', although the financial and political
weakening of the state amid intensified competition for resources made it
increasingly difficult for the state to meet all the demands put on it. An analysis of
the 1993 miners' strike in Ukrainian Donbass shows how these constraints meant
that the miners were used by the directors to achieve their own ends. This is
followed by an account of the relationship between the lobbying activity of the
coal-mining industry, conflicts within the government apparatus, changing forms of
financing of the industry and the organisation of nation-wide miners' actions,
centred on the 1995 and 1996 miners' strikes.
The changes in the system of management and financing of the coal-mining
industry meant that the trade unions sought to contain conflict within the enterprise
in the attempt to concentrate their efforts on regional and national campaigns in
collaboration with management. The final three substantive chapters of the thesis
explore the implications of the increasing isolation and fragmentation of the miners
through a series of case studies of strikes in Kuzbass and Rostov over the period
1997-9. The final chapter draws together the general themes addressed in the thesis.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Coal Miners' Strike, Soviet Union, 1989, Strikes and lockouts -- Miners -- Russia (Federation) -- History -- 20th century, Strikes and lockouts -- Miners -- Ukraine -- History -- 20th century, Coal mines and mining -- Russia (Federation) -- History -- 20th century
Official Date:	October 2000
Dates:	Date Event October 2000 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Sociology
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Clarke, Simon, 1946-
Extent:	viii, 515 leaves
Language:	eng

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