Through an analysis of industrial relations developments in Italy and Sweden - two countries especially committed to egalitarian wage policies - this article argues that wage egalitarianism as it was conceived in the 1960s and 1970s (compression of inter-occupational wage differentials) proved to be a strategic mistake for unions. It brought about fragmentation - involving multiple cleavages between blue- and white-collar workers, skilled and unskilled, male and female, and even private and public sector employees - as opposed to unity and thus produced the opposite results from its stated goals. The article also argues that if words like `equality' and `solidarity' continue to have meaning for labour organizations, they will need to be associated in the future with completely new supply-side strategies aimed at bringing about equality of jobs as opposed merely to wages.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Accornero, A.
(1980) `Il lavoro nella concezione della CISL', in G. Baglioni (ed.) Analisi della CISL, Vol. 1. Rome: Edizioni Lavoro.
2.
Accornero, A.
(1992) La parabola del sindacato. Bologna: II Mulino.
3.
Ahlen, K.
(1989) `Swedish Collective Bargaining Under Pressure: Inter-Union Rivalry and Incomes Policies', British Journal of Industrial Relations27(3): 330-346.
4.
Anderman, S.D.
(1967) `Central Wage Negotiations in Sweden: Recent Problems and Developments', British Journal of Industrial Relations5(3): 322-337.
5.
Barca, F.
and Magnani, M. (1989) L'industriafra capitale e lavoro. Bologna: II Mulino.
6.
Berggren, C.
(1992) Alternatives to Lean Production. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.
7.
Bianchi, G.
and Merli Brandini, P. (1974) Scienza, tecnologia e organizzazione del lavoro. Milan: Franco Angeli.
8.
Boni, P.
(1993) FIOM: 100 anni di un sindacato industriale. Rome: Ediesse.
9.
Bordogna, L.
(1989) `The COBAS: Fragmentation of Trade Union Representation and Conflict', in R. Leonardi and P. G. Corbetta (eds), Italian Politics: A Review, Volume 3, pp. 50-65. London: Pinter.
10.
Bordogna, L.
(1992) `Il caso delle Ferrovie', in G. Urban (ed.) Gli attori: I sindacati, le associazioni imprenditoriali, lo stato, pp. 143-180. Turin: Giappichelli.
11.
Cacace, N.
(1980) `L'azione della CISL rispetto all'organizzazione del lavoro', in G. Baglioni (ed.) Analisi della CISL. Vol. 2, pp. 549-566. Rome: Edizioni Lavoro.
12.
Carniti, P.
(1977) L'autonomia alla prova. Milan: Comnes Editore.
13.
Carrieri, M.
(1992) `I Cobas della scuola', in G. Urbani (ed.) Gli attori: I sindacati, le associazioni imprenditoriali, lo stato, pp. 181-218. Turin: Giappichelli.
14.
Cella, G.P.
, Manghi, B. and Piva P. (1972) Un sindacato italiano negli anni sessanta. Bari: De Donato.
15.
Di Gennaro, C.
(1994) `Retribuzioni, costo del lavoro e differenziali retributivi', in ASAP, Rapporto sui salari 1993, pp. 19-62. Milan: Franco Angeli.
16.
Edin, P.
and Holmlund, B. (1995) `The Swedish Wage Structure: The Rise and Fall of Solidarity Wage Policy', in R. B. Freeman and L. F. Katz (eds) Differences and Changes in Wage Structures, pp. 307-344. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
17.
Erickson, C.
and Ichino, A. (1995) `Wage Differentials in Italy: Market Forces, Institutions, and Inflation', in R. B. Freeman and L. F. Katz (eds) Differences and Changes in Wage Structures, pp. 265-306. Chicago: University of Chicago Press for NBER.
18.
Flanagan, R.J.
, Soskice, D.W. and Ulman, L. (1983) Unionism, Economic Stabilization and Incomes Policies: European Experience. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
19.
Freeman, R.B.
and Katz, L.F. (1994) `Rising Wage Inequality: The United States vs. Other Advanced Countries', in R. B. Freeman and L. F. Katz (eds) Working Under Different Rules, pp. 29-62. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
20.
Fulcher, J.
(1991) Labour Movements, Employers, and the State: Conflict and Cooperation in Britain and Sweden. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
21.
Johnston, T.L.
(1962) Collective Bargaining in Sweden. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
22.
Kjellberg, A.
(1992) `Sweden: Can the Model Survive?', in A. Ferner and R. Hyman (eds) Industrial Relations in the New Europe, pp. 88-142. Oxford: Blackwell.
23.
Lange, P.
and Vannicelli, M. (1982) `Strategy under Stress: The Italian Union Movement and the Italian Crisis in Developmental Perspective', in P. Lange, G. Ross and M. Vannicelli, Unions, Change, and Crisis: French and Italian Union Strategy and the Political Economy, 1945-1980, pp. 95-206. London: Allen and Unwin.
24.
Lash, S.
(1985) `The End of Neo-corporatism? The Breakdown of Centralized Bargaining in Sweden', British Journal of Industrial Relations23(2): 215-239.
25.
LO (Landsorganisationen)
(1991) Wage Policy for the Future: Summary of a Report to the 1991 LO Congress. Stockholm: LO.
26.
Locke, R.M.
(1995) Remaking the Italian Economy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
27.
Locke, R.M.
and Baccaro, L. (1994) `Pedagogy and Politics in the Italian Union Movement: A Case of Administrative Failure'. MIT, Sloan School of Management Working Paper, June.
28.
Locke, R.M.
, Kochan, T. and Piore, M. (1995) Employment Relations in a Changing World Economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT University Press.
29.
Locke, R.M.
and Thelen, K. (1995) `Apples and Oranges Revisited: Contextualized Comparisons and the Study of Comparative Labour Politics', Politics and Society23(3): 337-368.
30.
Lungarella, R.
(1981) La scala mobile 1945-1981. Padova: Marsilio Editori.
31.
Mahon, R.
(1991) `From Solidaristic Wages to Solidaristic Work: A Post-Fordist Historic Compromise for Sweden?', Economic and Industrial Democracy12: 295-325.
32.
Martin, A.
(1984) `Trade Unions in Sweden: Strategic Responses to Change and Crisis', in P. Gourevitch, A. Martin, G. Ross, C. Allen, S. Bornstein and A. Markovits, Unions and Economic Crisis: Britain, West Germany and Sweden, pp. 191-359. London: Allen and Unwin:.
33.
Martin, A.
(1992) `Foreword', in A. Sandberg, G. Broms, A. Grip, L. Sundström, J. Steen and P. Ullmark, Technological Change and Co-Determination in Sweden, pp. vii-xxiv. Philadephia, PA: Temple University Press.
34.
Martin, A.
(1995) `The Swedish Model: Demise or Reconfiguration', in R. M. Locke, T. Kochan and M. Piore (eds) Employment Relations in a Changing World Economy, pp. 263-296. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
35.
Meidner, R.
(1980) Capitale senza padrone (Italian translation of Kollectiv Kapitalbildning Genom Ldntagarfonder [1976]). Rome: Edizioni Lavoro.
36.
Meidner, R.
(1993) `Why Did the Swedish Model Fail?', in R. Miliband and L. Panitch (eds) The Socialist Register 1993, pp. 211-228. London: Merlin Press.
37.
OECD
(1993) Employment Outlook. Paris: OECD.
38.
Pizzorno, A.
, Reyneri, E., Regini, M. and Regalia, I. (1978) Lotte operaie e sindacato: il ciclo 1968-72 in Italia. Bologna: Il Mulino.
39.
Pontusson, J.
(1990) `The Politics of New Technology and Job Redesign: A Comparison of Volvo and British Leyland', Economic and Industrial Democracy11: 311-336.
40.
Pontusson, J.
(1992) The Limits of Social Democracy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
41.
Pontusson, J.
and Swenson, P. (1996) `Labour Markets, Production Strategies, and Wage Bargaining Institutions: The Swedish Employer Offensive in Comparative Perspective', Comparative Political Studies29(2): 223-250.
42.
Przeworski, A.
and Teune, H. (1970) The Logic of Comparative SocIal Inquiry. New York, NY: Wiley.
43.
Recascino Wise, L.
(1993) `Whither Solidarity? Transitions in Swedish Public-Sector Pay Policy', British Journal of Industrial Relations31(1): 75-95.
44.
Regalia, I.
(1978) `Rappresentanza operaia e sindacato: il mutamento di un sistema di relazioni industriali', in A. Pizzorno, E. Reyneri, M. Regini and I. Regalia, Lotte operaie e sindacato: il ciclo 1968-72 in Italia, pp. 178-290. Bologna: II Mulino.
45.
Regalia, I.
and Regini, M. (1995) `Between Voluntarism and Industrialization: Industrial Relations and Human Resources Practices in Italy', in R .M. Locke, T. Kochan and M. Piore (eds), Employment Relations in a Changing World Economy, pp. 131-163. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
46.
Regini, M.
(1978) `Come e perche cambiano la logica dell'organizzazione sindacale e i comportamenti della base', in A. Pizzorno, E. Reyneri, M. Regini and I. Regalia, Lotte operaie e sindacato: il ciclo 1968-72 in Italia, pp. 111-177. Bologna: Il Mulino.
47.
Reyneri, E.
(1978) "'Maggio strisciante": l'inizio della mobilitazione operaia', in A. Pizzorno, E. Reyneri, M. Regini and I. Regalia, Lotte operaie e sindacato: il ciclo 1968-72 in Italia, pp. 49-110. Bologna: Il Mulino.
48.
Sabel, C.F.
(1982) Work and Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
49.
Sandberg, A.
, ed. (1995) Enriching Production. Aldershot: Avebury.
50.
Sandberg, A.
, Broms, G., Grip, A., Sundstrõm, L., Steen, J. and Ullmark, P. (1992) Technological Change and Co-determination in Sweden. Philadephia, PA: Temple University Press.
51.
Sen, A.
(1992) Inequality Reexamined. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
52.
Swenson, P.
(1989) Fair Shares: Unions, Pay, and Politics in Sweden and West Germany. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
53.
Tarantelli, E.
(1986) Economia Politica del Lavoro. Turin: Giuffre.
54.
Thelen, K.
(1993) `West European Labour in Transition: Sweden and Germany Compared', World Politics46(1): 23-49.
55.
Trentin, B.
(1980) Il sindacato dei consigli. Rome: Editori Riuniti.
