ERIC Number: EJ1457146
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1476-7724
EISSN: EISSN-1476-7732
Conflict and Demobilisation: Lessons on Legitimacy and Associational Power from Poland's 2019 Teachers' Strike
Globalisation, Societies and Education, v23 n1 p259-279 2025
In 2019, Poland experienced a massive teachers' strike that lasted three weeks. Although the strike had a great impact on many teachers, in the end, this three-week action failed to obtain any of its demands. Using the concepts of workers' associational power and union legitimacy, I argue that one of the reasons for the loss was a crisis of legitimacy within the main union that organised the strike. Based on interviews with the strike participants, I analyse the dynamics of changing workers' associational power during the strike due to a crisis of legitimacy of the strike organiser -- the Polish Teachers' Union (ZNP). I show how the union faced a legitimacy crisis in four critical areas: perceived injustice, perceived effectiveness, union availability, and internal democracy both before and during the strike, and discuss how these insights might benefit trade union renewal.
Descriptors: Teacher Strikes, Foreign Countries, Unions, Elementary School Teachers, Secondary School Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Teacher Motivation, Public Opinion
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Poland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A