<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The paper examines Maramureș County’s labour regime and describes its transformation from a heavily unionized formation under socialism to today’s deregulated, transnational condition. The region’s former mining cluster and current furniture production hub are posited as sectoral focal points. Union militantism prevented the mining sector’s accelerated decline in the 1990s, but liberalisation and conformity with the European Union’s regulatory frameworks gradually eroded labour rights and shifted the region’s economic profile to export-oriented sectors. Among these, domestic and foreign furniture manufacturers emerged as dominant economic actors in the early 2000s. While the county is well-known for its wood processing, the companies in question tap into IKEA’s global production network and employ low-cost, flexible labour in just-in-time supply schedules. Recent developments include the use of immigrant agency workers as a solution to the county’s skilled and unskilled labour shortage.</p>
</abstract>

The paper examines Maramureș County’s labour regime and describes its transformation from a heavily unionized formation under socialism to today’s deregulated, transnational condition. The region’s former mining cluster and current furniture production hub are posited as sectoral focal points. Union militantism prevented the mining sector’s accelerated decline in the 1990s, but liberalisation and conformity with the European Union’s regulatory frameworks gradually eroded labour rights and shifted the region’s economic profile to export-oriented sectors. Among these, domestic and foreign furniture manufacturers emerged as dominant economic actors in the early 2000s. While the county is well-known for its wood processing, the companies in question tap into IKEA’s global production network and employ low-cost, flexible labour in just-in-time supply schedules. Recent developments include the use of immigrant agency workers as a solution to the county’s skilled and unskilled labour shortage.

Reindustrialization and Transnational Labour Regimes in Maramureș County: Between National Deregulation and Export-Dependence

Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai Sociologia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The paper examines Maramureș County’s labour regime and describes its transformation from a heavily unionized formation under socialism to today’s deregulated,...

Reindustrialization and Transnational Labour Regimes in Maramureș County: Between National Deregulation and Export-Dependence

Published Online: Jun 21, 2024

Page range: 57 - 77

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/subbs-2023-0008

Keywords
labour regimes, industrialization, FDI, export-led growth model, Romania

© 2023 Mihály et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Reindustrialization and Transnational Labour Regimes in Maramureș County: Between National Deregulation and Export-Dependence

Published Online: Jun 21, 2024

Page range: 57 - 77

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/subbs-2023-0008

Keywordslabour regimes, industrialization, FDI, export-led growth model, Romania

© 2023 Mihály et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
labour regimes, industrialization, FDI, export-led growth model, Romania