Labor Unions in Russia

This issue of the RAD focuses on the role of labor unions in Russia. The article by Irina Olimpieva examines the differences between the official Soviet-legacy labor union that still dominates Russia and the new independent labor unions. The official labor union is part of the establishment and focuses on distributing benefits to workers, while the independent unions actually fight for worker rights. The article by Petr Bizyukov looks at the data on labor protests in Russia and demonstrates that the number of protests continues to grow even though the effects of the financial crisis are receding.