Working Life Barometer in the Baltic Countries 2002 (pdf) - mol.fi

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to the trade union movement. In all the Baltic countries, over one-third of the
workers were of this opinion, and one-fifth took the opposite standpoint. The
differences between the countries in this respect were marginal. The proportion
who were unsure or regarded the matter neutrally was again great, which
confirms the observation already made that a majority of the wage earners are
not familiar with the trade union movement.
Quite a lot considered that trade union activity as a whole was old-fashioned
and therefore unsuited to the present day. One in four Estonians and Lithuanians
thought this way; and in Latvia, the view was still more common. On the
other hand, in all the countries, slightly more than one in four did not see the
trade union movement as old-fashioned; so the opinions were quite equally
divided for and against.
40%
20%
0%
-20%
-40%
OPINIONS OF TRADE UNIONS (III)
Being a member of a trade union does Trade union activity is
not bring any advantage backward-looking
39% 37% 37%
-20% -18% -19%
30%
25% 25%
-26% -26% -28%
Latvia Lithuania Estonia Latvia Lithuania Estonia
Totally or somewhat agree
Totally or somewhat disagree
In each country, the respondents who could not answer the question at all were
noticeably more numerous than those who were either for or against the unions.
This, too, indicates that in the view of the wage earners the trade union
movement has not succeeded in creating a proper profile for itself, in any of
the Baltic countries. Employees are just not familiar with it, and neither its
opportunities for influence nor its operational principles are very well known.