At the more practical level this means that the state takes the role of the supreme arbiter in labor disputes. Such a role is enhanced because the major trade-unions united in the Russian confederation of Independent Trade Unions are “tame” and do not present any real pressing force. Needless to say that they do not dare to organize large-scale actions. The recent fierce labor disputes, for example, the strike at the Ford Motors’ plant near St.Petersburg, were organized by alternative trade unions. Various associations of employers (including Russian Association of Employers, Russian Union of Industrialists (association of large businesses) and “OPORA” (association of medium and small businesses) do not hesitate to express their adherence to “civilized social partnership.”