Trade unions' responses to Industry 4.0 amid corporatism and resistance

Arbeitspapier

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the paths, directions, and ensuing degrees of technological adoption fostered by trade unions or, alternatively, forms of resistance thereof, in the so called 'Italian Motor-Valley', a distinctive technological district located in the outskirts of Bologna, Italy, specialised in the engineering/automotive industry. We find that the introduction of Industry 4.0 technology opens up a new space of action for trade unions in influencing firms' decisions on technological adoption. However, this new scope can have ambiguous effects, depending on how the process is governed. On the one hand, trade unions' involvement in said decisions might end up fostering corporatist tendencies, favouring the alignment of workers' and managers' objectives. On the other hand, such a major involvement can help both recompose old forms of dualism and revitalising workers' role in the crucial issue of work organisation.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: LEM Working Paper Series ; No. 2020/21

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Organization of Production ; Personnel Economics: Labor Management ; Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
• Subject: Industry 4.0 ; Trade Unions ; Organisational Change ; Corporatism

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Cirillo, Valeria ; Rinaldini, Matteo ; Staccioli, Jacopo ; Virgillito, Maria Enrica
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM)
• (where): Pisa
• (when): 2020

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/228160
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET