Shih-Hao Kang a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology

Content 4

Abstract 8

Introduction 10

The academic interpretation and the confusion 12

Identifying the role of activist network 17

The knowledge of being an insider among Russian workers 20

Lights from methodological reflection 24

Structure 29

Part One Russian Labour Studies and the Research Design 34

Chapter 1 Post-Soviet Labour Relations in Russia: history, review and the research approach 34

1.1 The development of the new Russian labour movement 34

1.1.1 Labour organisation in the former Soviet Union 34

1.1.2 Confrontation between old trade unions and alternative unions 46

1.1.3 Chaotic reform: the aftermath of parliamentary conflict 49

1.1.4 The new Labour Code: cooperation between the Government and FNPR 55

1.1.5 The characteristics of the Russian trade union movement since 1989 61

TABLE 1.1：VTsIom’s survey on workers’ trust in trade union 68

1.2 Studies on Russian workers and their union organisations 72

1.2.1 The soviet-type social relations of production at the workplace 73

1.2.2 Distinct explanations 86

1.2.3 Parallel and positive move in historical sense 89

1.2.4 The improvement of strategy and leadership 91

1.2.5 Unresolved questions 98

1.2.6 The theoretical approach of this study 107

1.3 Methodology 113

1.3.1 The research object 113

1.3.2 The case study methods 119

1.3.3 The advantages of my fieldwork 125

1.3.4 The challenges in the case-study field 128

1.4 Labour organisations in St Petersburg 136

1.4.1 Who are the trade union activists? 138

1.4.2 Free / alternative union organisations 142

1.4.3 The FNPR member organisations 145

1.4.4 Individual-based coordination and solidarity 148

1.4.5 Into the case study stage 152

Part Two Labour Relations in the Transport Enterprise: Two Case Studies in St Petersburg 157

Chapter 2 Railway workers and their organisations 157

2.1 Work in the Russian railway system 159

2.1.1 General background 159

Figure 2.1: Tendency of real wage and labour productivity of the Russian railway sector from 1992 to 2003 and projection to 2005 163

Figure 2.2: Average wage of the basic sectors in Russia Federation (April 2003) 164

2.1.2 The organisational and management structure of Russian Railways 165

Figure 2.3: The average wages in different Russian railways (2003) 170

Figure 2.4: The railway structure of October Railway* 171

2.2 Workers and their working conditions on October Railway 172

2.2.1 Train (Engine) driver 175

2.2.2 Locomotive mechanics 188

2.2.3 Train conductors 191

2.2.4 Train electricians 198

2.2.5 Weak collective identity 203

2.2.6 Grievances and conflicts 214

2.3 Railway workers’ organisations 224

2.3.1 The history of Russian railway unions before the collapse of the Soviet Union 224

2.3.2 ROSPROFZhEL - Russian Trade Union of Railway Workers and Transport Construction Workers 227

2.3.3 RPLBZh - Russian Trade Union of Locomotive Brigades of Railway Workers 237

2.3.4 Collective actions of RPLBZh 258

2.4 ROSPROFZhEL vs. RPLBZh 266

2.5 Conclusion 270

Chapter 3 Exploring workplace resistance: TO RPLBZh and KSP OZhD 274

3.1 Territorial Organisation RPLBZh OZhD 275

3.1.1 Formation 275

3.1.2 Daily activities of the primary organisations 279

3.1.3 The resource variation: relation with the administration and workers 293

3.1.4 Organisational work of TO RPLBZh OZhD 295

3.2 Non-RPLBZh free trade unions 305

3.2.1 Interregional Trade Union ‘Zheleznodorozhnik’ (MPS ‘Zheleznodorozhnik’ ) 306

3.2.2 The Trade Union of the Electricians of October Railway 310

3.2.3 The Free Trade Union of Refrigerator Workers on Refrigerator Depot ‘Predportovaya’ 314

3.3 Unionism individualised: the Confederation of Free Trade Unions on October Railway 316

3.3.1 Activity: weak mobilisation capacity 319

3.3.2 The difficulties 323

3.3.3 The sign of doom 326

3.4 Conclusion 329

Chapter 4 St Petersburg dockers and their Organisations 346

Figure 4.1: The share of total volume of cargo carried in the Russian transport system (2002) 348

4.1 Russian seaport transportation 348

4.1.1 General background 348

Figure 4.2 The scheme of St Petersburg Seaport 354

4.1.2 Seaport of St Petersburg 354

4.1.3 Dockers and their working conditions at St Petersburg Seaport 360

4.1.4 Workers’ grievances 376

4.2 Dockworkers and their union organisations 381

4.2.1 PRVT - Russian Trade Union of Water Transport Workers 382

4.2.2 RPD - Russian Trade Union of Dockers 387

4.2.3 Relations between RPD and PRVT 396

4.3 The port organisation of RPD at St Petersburg Seaport 399

4.3.1 History 399

Historical change in 1998: reorganisation of the port structure 401

4.3.2 Structure, member organisations and organisational work 405

Figure 4.3: A solidarity message posted on the port committee’s bulletin board 420

4.3.3 External relations 427

4.3.4 The commitment to social partnership 432

4.4 Conclusion 441

Chapter 5 St Petersburg dockers in 2004 and 2005: the union’s mobilisation for strike actions 449

Brief review of the 2004-2005 strike 450

5.1 The labour dispute in 2004: a prelude 454

5.1.1 Taking collective action: ‘working to rule’ 459

5.1.2 The situation in PKT 464

5.2 The strike action in 2005 466

5.2.1 The course of the dispute 467

5.2.2 Moving on to an ‘Italian strike’ 469

5.2.3 Moving on to a warning strike 471

5.2.4 Moving on to an indefinite strike 479

5.3 The characteristics of the dockers’ coordinated workplace unionism 495

5.3.1 Deliberate mobilisation 495

5.3.2 Social partnership in action 499

5.3.3 Internal and external coordination 507

External coordination 511

5.4 Conclusion 514

Chapter 6 Conclusion: theorising the transition of Russian organised labour 522

6.1 The workers came to self-organisation 522

6.2 Rethinking the distinct forms of workplace trade unionism 527

6.2.1 How do the favourable and the unfavourable conditions matter? 528

Table 6.1 The basic organisational features of the two case studies (by 2005) 534

6.2.2 Local dockers’ resistance – an advanced model for unions’ strategy and leadership? 534

6.2.3 Effective coordination vs. workplace fragmentation 536

6.3 Russia’s organised labour under fragile prospect 541

Bibliography 546

Internet sources 559

Interviews list 561

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