What does it mean for a trade union to be modern?

Many unions are taking on new agendas to stay relevant. Sometimes this changes how they work. Sometimes the change stays mostly symbolic.

Šárka Homfray looks at where that line lies, and she spent ten days at CELSI in Bratislava working on this research.

Šárka is a Czech trade union lawyer, publicist and feminist. She is also a PhD candidate in Civil Sector Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University in Prague.

During her stay, she talked with CELSI colleagues about trade union renewal, social dialogue and industrial relations in Central and Eastern Europe, themes CELSI has studied for many years.

On Monday, 19 October, she presented her work-in-progress paper “Modernizing Trade Unions? New Agendas, Organizational Change and the Search for Relevance” at the CELSI Frontiers Seminar.

The paper is based on a case study of Moderní odbory, a trade union in the Czech banking group ČSOB.

It uses the union's work on ESG (environmental, social and governance) issues to see how union members and leaders themselves understand “modern trade unionism.”

Since the paper is still taking shape, the seminar gave CELSI colleagues the chance to give feedback and suggest next steps for the analysis.

Thank you, Šárka, for your time with us in Bratislava, your presentation and the many conversations about research, trade unions and the changing world of work. Good luck with your doctoral research and the work ahead. We hope to welcome you back at CELSI soon.

🔗 Find more about the CELSI Frontiers Seminar series at: https://celsi.sk/en/events/detail/2/

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