Documents Seideneck, Peter 6 results

"This article reviews the experience of the dissolution of Yugoslavia from the perspective of trade union organisations and actors, both in Yugoslavia itself and the international confederations. The author played a leading role in many of the meetings arranged as a means of keeping dialogue alive between worker representatives, and offers a personal view of the conclusions and achievements. Trade union organisations might have been hostages to the forces that drove the war but the indefatigable efforts of the international confederations to establish a succession of forums, seminars and other platforms at which integration and co-operation might take place in an atmosphere of respect have greatly assisted a subsequent coming together among people who realised that they had not been at war with each other but among whom substantial suspicions and tensions remained. Solidarnost, a platform for trade union organisation, is a tribute to the strategy of the ETUC, and offers scope for a regional reconnection as well as the hope that trade unions might be part of the answer to the continuing problems caused by the war."

"Many people in Eastern Europe found that their living conditions actually worsened during the transition from one old régime to another old-established - but pretty sound and adaptable- system. For the most part, the anticipated and in some cases publicised direct benefits of the free market economy failed to materialise.
The governments of the Eastern European countries are all faced with inescapable dilemmas in the short term. Even those governments which claim to have close links with trade unions are implementing an economic and monetary policy that will inevitably lead to confrontations with the unions.
Some governments regard the tripartite system as an instrument for appeasement, but not as a starting point for autonomous social relations. Their interest lies more with short-term conflict management and less with the development of independent interest-oriented structures.
The ideal path that could be taken by the trade unions will have no other milestones than representativeness, the strength embodied in high numbers of members, the ability to mobilise them, and high acceptance among the public.
The process of integration has not yet been concluded. The fundamental changes in Europe demand that the states in Central and Eastern Europe be involved in this process.
The enlargement of the ETUC to include trade unions from Eastern Europe is no act of charity; it is in the direct interests of the ETUC and its affiliates. No longer can the developments in Eastern Europe be regarded as external affairs - they must now be integrated into the ETUC's policy."

"Die Historiker György Dalos, Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk und Jean-Yves Potel haben untersucht, welche Auswirkungen die vier großen revolutionären Momente der Arbeiterbewegung in Mittel- und Osteuropa auf die Entwicklung der Demokratie in ganz Europa hatten: 1953 DDR, 1956 Ungarn, 1968 ČSSR und 1980 Polen. Sie sind bis heute Wegweiser für den schwierigen Prozess der Demokratisierung, der von erheblichen Rückschlägen geprägt ist – auch in Ländern, die mittlerweile der EU angehören.

Die Arbeiter- und Volksaufstände zeigten trotz der sowjetischen Panzer, die sie beendeten, Wirkung: In Ungarn wurden Arbeiterräte gegründet, in der ČSSR hieß die Hoffnung »Sozialismus mit menschlichem Antlitz«. Die Bevölkerung stand mehrheitlich an der Seite der Reformer und Aufständischen. Solidarność ist ein bemerkenswerter Sonderfall – er wirkt wie ein Vorzeichen für das Ende der sowjetischen Vorherrschaft und den Beginn eines neuen Europas. Heute ist Polen wieder mit nationalistischen Ideologien, Illiberalität und der Schwächung der Rechtsstaatlichkeit konfrontiert. Um dem zu begegnen, hilft ein Blick auf die Menschen, die sich dem Totalitarismus in Berlin, Budapest, Prag und Danzig widersetzt haben."