Post-ideological and characterised by a strong subjectivity: this is how the workers of the North-East present themselves. After all, the historical phase in which work had taken on an almost ideological connotation, as Aris Accornero pointed out as early as the 1980s, and the working class was the focal point, has come to an end - and not as of today. The dimension of flexibility and investment in the enterprise, participation and involvement in the workplaces, as well as the relational climate, are fundamental aspects for people. This does not mean - to paraphrase the title of Petri's film - that the working class lives in a paradise. In recent decades, metamorphoses have occurred not only in labour organisations, as Minister Poletti rightly pointed out a few weeks ago, but also in workers' orientations. However, we struggle to see and analyse them. This is because we have focused our attention and public debate exclusively on the rules and mechanisms of the labour market: the Treu Package, the reform of the late Biagi, the Jobs Act of the Renzi government.
The Little One, 20 December 2015
Messaggero Veneto, 20 December 2015
Finegil Newspapers, 23 December 2015
On labour issues, an often ideological blanket has descended, anchored to visions and conditions of the Fordist era, in which 'rights' remain almost crystallised and are not declined with the organisational and cultural changes that have taken place over the years. Thus, the end result is a divisive public discussion. Labour issues are marked by squinting syndrome: unable to really focus on the phenomena. Thus making stereotypes, the already known, prevail. We have moved from the 'working class' to 'out-of-class workers'. From the mythical 'working class', we move on to workers characterised by a strong subjectivity who no longer recognise themselves in a homogeneous 'class'. Whose level of identification with their work and the company in which they are employed is much higher than one might have thought. A recent survey (Community Media Research for Federmeccanica) plumbed the orientations of workers, revealing a general picture tinged with profound transformations. Let's look at some of the evidence: 72.1% feel 'at home' within the company, 75.6% are willing to introduce flexibility in working hours and shifts, 77.8% want to contribute to innovations to solve problems arising at work. 58.3% would like a salary that is partly proportional to the company's results, 47.2% would even be willing to finance innovations out of their own pocket and then have an economic return. Merit is the prevailing criterion of social justice at work: 62.1% believe that those with greater preparation should be paid more, to which is added the 32.3% who call for everyone to be given an adequate basic training, but then everyone has to play for it themselves. Largely marginal are those who want everyone to have relatively similar salaries (5.6%). Ultimately, the vast majority of workers identify with the company they feel is their own (78.0%), where they develop social relationships and friendships. For these reasons they tend to share its objectives, its destinies: they would also like to be able to participate in company decisions (62.4%). Because a company is above all a social value, for itself and for the territory (91.0%). It is not only companies and their way of producing that have changed. It is not only professions and jobs that have changed. The orientations and cultures towards work on the part of the population have also changed. However, we still do not have a narrative of these metamorphoses.
Daniele Marini
