The article examines the issues of protection of labour rights by Russian employees, that led to heated discussions at working meetings of employees of the Center for Comprehensive Social Research of FCTAS RAS, when it came to life values ​​and the potential for protest activity. One of the main questions raised by V.V. Petukhov - Why, despite the importance and significance for many Russians of such a sphere of life as work, nevertheless, few people are ready to defend their labour rights by any means, in fact, rather adapting to the situation and often deliberately worsening their situation?

The starting point for working on this text was an article by V.V. Petukhov "Crisis and protection of labour rights of citizens”, published in the journal "Sociological Research" in 2016. The main idea expressed in the article is to continue the scientific discussion of the ongoing changes in the social and labour sphere that characterise the behaviour of modern workers in cases of infringement or violation of labour rights.

In the presented article, the author, continuing the reflections of V.V. Petukhov, demonstrates, based on the empirical data collected in the course of many years of research by the ISRAS, what tactics of labour behaviour and ways of defending the rights and interests are chosen by Russian workers, how they assess today the level of opportunities to influence the adoption of managerial decisions at the place of work, the ability to influence the improvement of working conditions.

Based on the analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that in modern conditions, social and labour relations in Russia are not yet a favourable environment for the development of professional and qualification competencies, for productive and efficient work. Difficulties with the realisation of the labour rights of citizens, when the legal possibility of defending them is either not realised or is blocked, can lead to the radicalisation of certain groups of citizens. Moreover, the "foci" of such radicalisation, in the author´s opinion, will be localised in socio-professional groups and industries where the conditions of short-term (precarious) employment are most widespread.

sociology, work, labour rights, labour behaviour, interests, values

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