Trade Unions of Eastern Galicia During the Socio-political Processes of the 19th–Early 20th Centuries

The article analyzes the state of research on the trade unions’ development in Eastern Galicia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. An attempt to highlight the most debatable issues of the given problem was made by analyzing sources and works of modern researchers. In particular, the activities of trade unions in various types of struggle are disclosed. Oral complaints, individual and collective statements, requests, proclamations, protests, etc. dominated the initial stages. From the beginning of the 1970s of the 19th century, the arsenal of measures included strikes and public events. In the 1980s and 1990s, the strike movement in the Galician lands continued to develop. Such a struggle required that the actions should be coordinated. In the early 1990s of the 19th century, there were three national trade unions—building workers, carpenters, and bakers in Eastern Galicia, and in 1896, there were already 39 trade union associations and 17 educational societies, whose activities were coordinated by two Trade Union Commissions, Krakow, and Lviv. In May 1898, the National Professional Commission was established, subordinated to Vienna’s Central Trade Union Commission. The strikes organized by trade unions and political parties have become a problematic phenomenon. The strikers developed the demands and created strike committees to manage the struggle.