Trade Union Press as a Form of Organisational and Administrative Documentation (Case Study of the Ukrainian Societies “Zoria” and “Syla”)

Abstract

The article presents a document studies analysis of the trade union press of Ukrainian societies in Lviv in the late nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century as a specific form of organisational and managerial documentation. Trade union periodicals are considered not only as historical sources or mass media, but as institutional documents that ensured the functioning of professional and workers’ organisations, the implementation of managerial decisions, and the coordination of collective activities. The purpose of the study is to determine the place of trade union press within the system of documentary communication of Ukrainian societies in Lviv and to identify its organisational and managerial functions. The research methodology is based on a combination of general scientific and specialised document studies methods, including structural and functional analysis, historical-documentary approach, content analysis of periodicals, and methods of document classification. Scientific novelty lies in reinterpreting the trade union press of Ukrainian societies in Lviv as a form of organisational and managerial documentation that performed informational, regulatory, mobilising, and ideological functions in the activities of institutions. For the first time, special emphasis is placed on the role of trade union periodicals as elements of the documentation support system of professional associations’ management. Conclusions. It is established that the trade union press served as an important managerial and communicative tool that facilitated coordination, self-organisation, and consolidation of Ukrainian societies in Lviv, contributing to the formation of collective identity and ensuring organisational stability under conditions of socio-economic and political transformations.