Labour Contention for a (an environmentally) Just Transition: State Regulation Processes, Private Property and Trade Unions Strategies in the Ilva Steel Plant in Taranto (Italy)

The just transition perspective has gained a generalized attention in conjunction with the increasing pressures that Western societies are under to green their economies. In this perspective the role of trade unions is central as they are encouraged to drive the socio-technical transformation to avoid the intensification of the dilemma between the protection of jobs and environment. Indeed, when dealing with the environmental challenge, unions come to be caught in a tension between the protection of current jobs and the search to make jobs more environmentally responsible. Studies on industrial relations and the anti-austerity protests have shown that during the Great Recession, in Italy, this increased a conflict concerning economic, political and environmental issues between unions and the state. This can be explained, inter alia, by the pivotal role played by the state in social regulation processes, particularly through public investment in industrial sectors defined as strategic in the global value chain.

The main objective of the contribution is to explore how different regulatory frameworks affect industrial and social conflict. The empirical analysis refers to the area of Taranto, home to the largest steel plant in Europe (ILVA), that is facing a serious environmental and health crisis. In 2012 Taranto became a national and international public case following the evidence of the environmental disaster caused by the steel plant.

Empirically, we use an original data set of workers' collective actions, built through protest event analysis (PEA) by examining worker and social movements protests during the wave of labour contention that occurred in Italy and Taranto between 2008 and 2018. Furthermore, we will carry out a case study of the ILVA through the analysis of official documents, technical reports and depth interviews addressed to union representatives and social movement leaders.