We investigate trade union strategies in fashion retail, a sector with endemic low wages, precarity and a representation gap. Unions in Milan organized ‘zero-hours contract’ workers, while their counterparts in New York established an alternative channel of representation, the Retail Action Project. We argue, first, that the dynamics of both cases are counterintuitive, displaying institution-building in the USA and grassroots mobilization in Italy; second, union identity stands out as a key revitalizing factor, since only those unions with a broad working-class orientation could provide an effective representation for fashion retail workers.
%0 Journal Article
%1 gasparri2018trade
%A Gasparri, Stefano
%A Ikeler, Peter
%A Fullin, Giovanna
%D 2018
%I SAGE Publications
%J European Journal of Industrial Relations
%K fashion_retail flexible_work hbs-2014-742-2 industrial_relations institutions union_identity union_revitalization worker_centres young_workers zero-hours_contracts
%N 4
%P 345--361
%R 10.1177/0959680118817681
%T Trade union strategy in fashion retail in Italy and the USA: Converging divergence between institutions and mobilization?
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959680118817681
%V 25
%X We investigate trade union strategies in fashion retail, a sector with endemic low wages, precarity and a representation gap. Unions in Milan organized ‘zero-hours contract’ workers, while their counterparts in New York established an alternative channel of representation, the Retail Action Project. We argue, first, that the dynamics of both cases are counterintuitive, displaying institution-building in the USA and grassroots mobilization in Italy; second, union identity stands out as a key revitalizing factor, since only those unions with a broad working-class orientation could provide an effective representation for fashion retail workers.
@article{gasparri2018trade,
abstract = {We investigate trade union strategies in fashion retail, a sector with endemic low wages, precarity and a representation gap. Unions in Milan organized ‘zero-hours contract’ workers, while their counterparts in New York established an alternative channel of representation, the Retail Action Project. We argue, first, that the dynamics of both cases are counterintuitive, displaying institution-building in the USA and grassroots mobilization in Italy; second, union identity stands out as a key revitalizing factor, since only those unions with a broad working-class orientation could provide an effective representation for fashion retail workers.},
added-at = {2019-11-14T14:26:15.000+0100},
author = {Gasparri, Stefano and Ikeler, Peter and Fullin, Giovanna},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2ac7acbd746f35bd582401c92c2a11174/meneteqel},
doi = {10.1177/0959680118817681},
interhash = {51853f06446df50e6c433316906006cb},
intrahash = {ac7acbd746f35bd582401c92c2a11174},
journal = {European Journal of Industrial Relations},
keywords = {fashion_retail flexible_work hbs-2014-742-2 industrial_relations institutions union_identity union_revitalization worker_centres young_workers zero-hours_contracts},
language = {eng},
month = dec,
number = 4,
pages = {345--361},
publisher = {{SAGE} Publications},
timestamp = {2019-11-14T14:26:15.000+0100},
title = {Trade union strategy in fashion retail in Italy and the {USA}: Converging divergence between institutions and mobilization?},
url = {https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959680118817681},
volume = 25,
year = 2018
}