Unionism without movement? Workers’ claims in labor conflicts in Italy in times of crisis (2008-2018)

Journal title SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO
Author/s Katia Pilati, Margherita Sabrina Perra, Virginia Salaorni
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2024/170
Language Italian Pages 23 P. 143-165 File size 201 KB
DOI 10.3280/SL2024-170009
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This article proposes an analysis of labour conflict claims expressed by workers and trade unions in Italy, individually and in intra-union alliances, to understand whether these propose the elaboration of a new alternative culture opposite to the neoliberal one. The theoretical framework recovers the concept of enjeu suggested by A. Touraine. Empirically, the analysis is conducted on an original dataset constructed through the method of protest event analysis (PEA), which includes strikes and other protests, recorded in Italy from 2008 to 2018. The results show that economic claims and a defensive policy promoted by the confederal trade unions prevail in the Italian industrial relations system. Even if marginally, political claims, together with economic ones, push cooperation between confederal and autonomous trade unions, together with non-traditional actors, in theopposition to national government policies. However, political focused contestation to neo-liberalism remains at the margins of the industrial conflict, led by autonomous trade unions and self-organised groups of workers.  

Keywords: Trade unions; claims; social movement unionism; protests.

Katia Pilati, Margherita Sabrina Perra, Virginia Salaorni, Sindacalismo senza movimento? Le rivendicazioni nei conflitti di lavoro in Italia in tempi di crisi (2008-2018) in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO " 170/2024, pp 143-165, DOI: 10.3280/SL2024-170009