WOJNA ŚWIATÓW? WPŁYW TRANSFORMACJI SYSTEMOWEJ NA KARIERY ELIT ZWIĄZKÓW ZAWODOWYCH OPZZ I NSZZ "SOLIDARNOŚĆ" (…)
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS? THE INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEMIC TRANSFORMATION ON THE CAREERS OF THE ELITE OF TRADE UNIONS THE ALL-POLAND ALLIANCE OF TRADE UNIONS (OPZZ) AND THE INDEPENDENT SELF-GOVERNING TRADE UNION "SOLIDARITY" (…)

Summary/Abstract: The article analysed the process of formation of the elites of the two rival projects for trade union movements, the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (NSZZ "Solidarność") and the created on the basis of the Central Council of Trade Unions rival All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions. The associations of trade unions - because "Solidarność" can also be considered one - were formed in the similar historical moment (in fact, almost simultaneously) and created elites which later played a role in the process of structural transformation after 1989. The article is an attempt to represent the elites of the unions from that moment both in the 1980s and during the period of transformation. We assumed that 1989 was an important turning point which had an impact on the distinct trajectories of life of these elites in the Third Polish Republic. Based on this data, the authors attempted to verify this hypothesis, and previously they presented a group portrait of the elites of the unions understood as a group of delegates participating in the conventions concluding the first stages of existence of these organisations, namely the First National Convention of Delegates of NSZZ "Solidarność" (1981) and the Second Congress of OPZZ (1986). These elites were vastly different from each other, already as delegates, because they represented distinct interest groups, differently defined goals, and recruited people from diverse sub-groups of Polish society. However, eliminating some of these differences on the statistical level showed that the systemic transformation - the breakthrough year 1989 - had a significant and distinct impact on the careers of the elites of the two trade unions formed in the late state socialism.

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