IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecoind/v43y2022i2p658-684.html

Integrating direct employee voice within the framework of worker representation: The role of an Italian trade union in organising disintermediation

Author

Listed:
  • Ilaria Armaroli

Abstract

Facing the spread of management-led direct employee voice, trade unions are stuck with a theoretical and practical dilemma: organising against the disintermediation threats or accepting the risk of marginalisation and partnering with management to at least secure mutual gains. This article casts light on organising disintermediation as a chance for trade unions to overcome the ‘ organising against vs surrendering to disintermediation ’ trade-off, by taking the lead in the promotion, regulation and implementation of direct employee voice. The analysis of FIM-CISL Brescia shows that far from exclusively being a link to organisational performance and a challenge to union intermediation , direct employee voice may become a trade union goal, being the expression of employee self-determination and human dignity. Pursuing this goal translates into a multifaceted change for the trade union, regarding both its internal ( organising ) and external ( partnership ) dimension.

Suggested Citation

  • Ilaria Armaroli, 2022. "Integrating direct employee voice within the framework of worker representation: The role of an Italian trade union in organising disintermediation," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 658-684, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:2:p:658-684
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X20937414
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143831X20937414
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0143831X20937414?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alex Bryson & John Forth & Simon Kirby, 2005. "High‐Involvement Management Practices, Trade Union Representation And Workplace Performance In Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 52(3), pages 451-491, July.
    2. Richard Hyman, 1997. "The Future of Employee Representation," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 309-336, September.
    3. Peter Fairbrother, 2015. "Rethinking trade unionism: Union renewal as transition," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 26(4), pages 561-576, December.
    4. Yonatan Reshef & Mark Kizilos & Gerald Ledford & Susan Cohen, 1999. "Employee involvement programs: Should unions get involved?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 557-569, December.
    5. Alex Bryson & Erling Barth & Harald Dale-Olsen, 2013. "The Effects of Organizational Change on Worker Well-Being and the Moderating Role of Trade Unions," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(4), pages 989-1011, July.
    6. Dani Rodrik, 2016. "Premature deindustrialization," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-33, March.
    7. John T. Addison, 2005. "The Determinants Of Firm Performance: Unions, Works Councils, And Employee Involvement/High‐Performance Work Practices," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 52(3), pages 406-450, July.
    8. David Marsden, 2013. "Individual Voice in Employment Relationships: A Comparison under Different Forms of Workplace Representation," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52, pages 221-258, January.
    9. Sprenger, Wim, 2011. "Trade Unions and innovation - innovative unions? Experiences from selected EU member states," Rostocker Beiträge zur Wirtschafts- und Organisationspsychologie 7, Universität Rostock, Seniorprofessur für Wirtschafts- und Organisationspsychologie.
    10. John T. Addison & Alex Bryson & Paulino Teixeira & André Pahnke & Lutz Bellmann, 2013. "The Extent of Collective Bargaining and Workplace Representation: Transitions between States and their Determinants. A Comparative Analysis of Germany and Great Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(2), pages 182-209, May.
    11. Stavros Drakopoulos & Ioannis Katselidis, 2014. "The Development of Trade Union Theory and Mainstream Economic Methodology," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(4), pages 1133-1149, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fathi Fakhfakh & Virginie Pérotin & Andrew Robinson, 2011. "Workplace Change and Productivity: Does Employee Voice Make a Difference?," Chapters, in: Susan Hayter (ed.), The Role of Collective Bargaining in the Global Economy, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. John T. Addison & Alex Bryson & Paulino Teixeira & André Pahnke, 2011. "Slip Sliding Away: Further Union Decline In Germany And Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 58(4), pages 490-518, September.
    3. Aleksandra Gregorič & Thomas Poulsen, 2020. "When Do Employees Choose to Be Represented on the Board of Directors? Empirical Analysis of Board‐Level Employee Representation in Denmark," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(2), pages 241-272, June.
    4. Fibla Gasparín, Ma. Teresa, 2010. "Productivity in southern European small firms: When and how work organization complements process innovation," Working Papers 2072/179600, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    5. Patrice Laroche, 2020. "Unions, Collective Bargaining and Firm Performance," Post-Print hal-03058266, HAL.
    6. John T. Addison & Alex Bryson & Paulino Teixeira & André Pahnke, 2011. "Slip Sliding Away: Further Union Decline In Germany And Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 58(4), pages 490-518, September.
    7. Cetrulo, Armanda & Cirillo, Valeria & Landini, Fabio, 2025. "Labour, unions and R&D in Italian firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 262-281.
    8. Aruna Ranganathan, 2021. "Identification and Worker Responses to Workplace Change: Evidence from Four Cases in India," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(3), pages 663-688, May.
    9. Julimar da Silva Bichara & Sandro E. Monsueto & Ana I. Viñas, 2023. "Collective bargaining and technological innovation in the EU15: An analysis at establishment level," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(9), pages 2891-2924, September.
    10. Mohrenweiser, Jens, 2022. "Works Councils," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1103, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    11. Indy Wijngaards & Owen C. King & Martijn J. Burger & Job van Exel, 2022. "Worker Well-Being: What it Is, and how it Should Be Measured," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 795-832, April.
    12. Seth Schindler & J Miguel Kanai & Javier Diaz Bay, 2023. "Deindustrialisation and the politics of subordinate degrowth: The case of Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(7), pages 1212-1230, May.
    13. Marjan Shamsi & Tatiana Iakovleva & Espen Olsen & Richard P. Bagozzi, 2021. "Employees’ Work-Related Well-Being during COVID-19 Pandemic: An Integrated Perspective of Technology Acceptance Model and JD-R Theory," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-22, November.
    14. Luis Bauluz & Yajna Govind & Filip Novokmet, 2020. "Global Land Inequality," PSE Working Papers halshs-03022318, HAL.
    15. Marwil J. Dávila-Fernández, 2019. "Manufacture Content and Financialisation: An Empirical Assessment," Department of Economics University of Siena 811, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    16. Batuo, Michael E. & Kararach, George & Malki, Issam, 2022. "The dynamics of income inequality in Africa: An empirical investigation on the role of macroeconomic and institutional forces," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    17. Abdul RAZIQ, 2014. "Strategic Planning And High Performance Human Resource Management Practices In Pakistani Smes," Management and Marketing Journal, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 0(2), pages 123-134, November.
    18. Tobias Brändle & Laszlo Goerke, 2018. "The one constant: a causal effect of collective bargaining on employment growth? Evidence from German linked‐employer‐employee data," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 65(5), pages 445-478, November.
    19. Jimmy ALANI, 2021. "Financialization and political economy of financial regulation in Uganda," Journal of Economics and Political Economy, EconSciences Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 58-88, March.
    20. József BENEDEK & Alexander C. LEMBCKE, 2017. "Characteristics of recovery and resilience in the Romanian regions," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 8, pages 95-126, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:2:p:658-684. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ekhist.uu.se/english.htm .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.