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Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Challenge of External Work Arrangements for Industrial Manufacturing Unions in Germany and Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Chiara Benassi

    (King’s College London, UK)

  • Lisa Dorigatti

    (University of Milan, Italy)

Abstract

Work externalisation has challenged the ability of industrial unions to represent workers along the value chain and sustain solidaristic policies, leading to the growing fragmentation of wages and working conditions. This article aims to complement institutionalist analyses of unions’ strategies towards peripheral workers by pointing at the role of the labour process. The authors argue that variations in the bargaining strategies and their outcomes for different types of peripheral workers can be explained by observing the extent to which the use of different external work arrangements for specific tasks challenges the logic of industrial unionism. The findings rely on a structured comparison of unions’ responses to the use of agency work and on-site subcontracting in four plants owned by two multinational companies in Italy and Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Chiara Benassi & Lisa Dorigatti, 2020. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Challenge of External Work Arrangements for Industrial Manufacturing Unions in Germany and Italy," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(6), pages 1027-1044, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:34:y:2020:i:6:p:1027-1044
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017020903039
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Durazzi, Niccolo, 2017. "Inclusive unions in a dualized labour market? The challenge of organising labour market policy and social protection for labour market outsiders," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 69527, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Virginia Doellgast & Ian Greer, 2007. "Vertical Disintegration and the Disorganization of German Industrial Relations1," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(1), pages 55-76, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Landini, Fabio & Rinaldi, Riccardo, 2024. ""Bad Jobs" in "Good Industries": The Precarious Employment of Migrant Workers in the Manufacturing Sector of the Emilia-Romagna Region," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1409, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Francesco E Iannuzzi & Devi Sacchetto, 2022. "Outsourcing and workers’ resistance practices in Venice’s hotel industry: The role of migrants employed by cooperatives," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 877-897, May.

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