Abstract
The article endeavours to trace the origins of the gradual amalgamation of the employees' trade unions in terms of theirs negotiation position towards the employers. It analyzes the unification and functioning of the trade unions in the era of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and at the beginninst of communist era.
Tracing its origins in the beginning of the 20th century, the development of the union efforts developed until the effective subordination to the state interests, simultaneously to the gradual etatisation of the state and (originally) private economy. In this context, the article concludes that, in the historical context, no other way was plausible for the actors involved.