Outsourced racism in Italy: discrimination at work and trade union responses in three sectors

Research findings suggest that in some Italian industrial sectors a structural relationship may exist between new forms of work organization deriving from subcontracting and the embedding of racial discrimination in the workplace. This article first analyses the transformations of work that have led to the increasing recourse to the use of outsourcing. The second part examines the structural transformations due to subcontracting in the construction, metalworking and shipbuilding sectors in Italy from a comparative perspective. The third part presents the main empirical evidence on the effects of the crisis that have made union intervention against both contractual stratification and racial discrimination particularly difficult.Research findings suggest that in some Italian industrial sectors a structural relationship may exist between new forms of work organization deriving from subcontracting and the embedding of racial discrimination in the workplace. This article first analyses the transformations of work that have led to the increasing recourse to the use of outsourcing. The second part examines the structural transformations due to subcontracting in the construction, metalworking and shipbuilding sectors in Italy from a comparative perspective. The third part presents the main empirical evidence on the effects of the crisis that have made union intervention against both contractual stratification and racial discrimination particularly difficult. © 2015, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved