Subcontracting Chain and Working Conditions in Italy: Evidence from the Food and Meat Industry

Stefania Battistelli; Piera Campanella

Titles

Abstract

Outsourcing is a phenomenon that combines business strategies, structural characteristics of companies and working relationships. In Italy outsourcing is widespread, facilitated by a legislation that has removed limits and made the outsourced production and the management of the workforce easier. As a result, employment, working conditions and industrial relations in the value chain have been affected by this phenomenon in terms of high fragmentation and work protection. In this scenario the industries which have been more negatively impacted by the phenomenon are the ones under high pressure from large retailers and the demand for low cost goods, such as the logistics and the meat sector. The article aims at presenting the analysis of outsourcing phenomenon in Italy, by examining its causes, its mechanism and its consequences on workers and their trade unions. In this context, an inadequacy of the present regulatory approaches in addressing the phenomenon of outsourcing has been observed. Its content has been enriched with the analysis of a case study, called “Modena system,” which unveils the weaknesses of outsourcing in a specific sector, the meat industry, and the concrete responses taken by the public actors and trade unions to deal with them.

ASJC: 3308, JEL: K31

* This article has been prepared during the implementation of the project “Fairness, freedom and Industrial Relations across Europe: UP AND DOWN THE MEAT VALUE CHAIN (MEAT.UP.FFIRE)”— VP/2017/004/0035. The article was the product of a joint endeavour between the two authors, but the paragraphs can be attributed as follows: §§ 2, 3.1. to Stefania Battistelli and §§ 1, 3.2. and 4 to Piera Campanella.

Outsourcing is a phenomenon that combines business strategies, structural characteristics of companies and working relationships. In Italy outsourcing is widespread, facilitated by a legislation that has removed limits and made the outsourced production and the management of the workforce easier. As a result, employment, working conditions and industrial relations in the value chain have been affected by this phenomenon in terms of high fragmentation and work protection. In this scenario the industries which have been more negatively impacted by the phenomenon are the ones under high pressure from large retailers and the demand for low cost goods, such as the logistics and the meat sector. The article aims at presenting the analysis of outsourcing phenomenon in Italy, by examining its causes, its mechanism and its consequences on workers and their trade unions. In this context, an inadequacy of the present regulatory approaches in addressing the phenomenon of outsourcing has been observed. Its content has been enriched with the analysis of a case study, called “Modena system,” which unveils the weaknesses of outsourcing in a specific sector, the meat industry, and the concrete responses taken by the public actors and trade unions to deal with them.

ASJC: 3308, JEL: K31

* This article has been prepared during the implementation of the project “Fairness, freedom and Industrial Relations across Europe: UP AND DOWN THE MEAT VALUE CHAIN (MEAT.UP.FFIRE)”— VP/2017/004/0035. The article was the product of a joint endeavour between the two authors, but the paragraphs can be attributed as follows: §§ 2, 3.1. to Stefania Battistelli and §§ 1, 3.2. and 4 to Piera Campanella.

Keywords

outsourcing, subcontracting, working conditions, labour intermediation, food and meat industry / podwykonawstwo, warunki pracy, pośrednictwo pracy, przemysł spożywczy i mięsny

labour intermediation, food and meat industry, outsourcing, subcontracting, working conditions

References

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Information

Information: Studies on Labour Law and Social Policy, Volume 27 (2020), Volume 27 Issue 2, pp. 135 - 145

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/25444654SPP.20.013.11951

Article type: Original article

Titles:

Polish:

Subcontracting Chain and Working Conditions in Italy: Evidence from the Food and Meat Industry

English:

Subcontracting Chain and Working Conditions in Italy: Evidence from the Food and Meat Industry

Authors

Stefania Battistelli

University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Aurelio Saffi, 2, 61029 Urbino PU, Italy

Piera Campanella

University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Aurelio Saffi, 2, 61029 Urbino PU, Italy

Published at: 09.06.2020

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Percentage share of authors:

Stefania Battistelli (Author) - 50%

Piera Campanella (Author) - 50%

Article corrections:

-

Publication languages:

English

View count: 1247

Number of downloads: 951

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Studia z Zakresu Prawa Pracy i Polityki Społecznej