Unions for whom? Union democracy and precarious workers in Poland and Italy

Focusing on the cases of Italy and Poland, this paper examines the link between union organizational democracy and the economic and political inclusion of precarious workers. It argues that union membership of vulnerable groups is not a necessary condition for the representation of their voice and economic interests by labour organizations; rather, these two forms of the inclusion are shaped primarily by institutional contexts in which unions operate as well as by their identities and structural characteristics. In both examined countries the economic inclusion of precarious workers has been more advanced, while the degree of their political inclusion lagged behind and varied across major union confederations in line with two distinct models of unionism: a solidaristic and a diversity-oriented one.

Publication year:2019

BOF-keylabel:yes

IOF-keylabel:yes

BOF-publication weight:1

CSS-citation score:2

Authors:International

Authors from:Higher Education

Accessibility:Open