How to get rid of the initiators of the Italian strike. What does the Italian strike mean? Why many leaders are afraid of the "Italian strike" and "detailed rules"
Consisting in the extremely strict performance by the employees of the enterprise of their official duties and rules, not stepping back from them and not going beyond them. Sometimes the Italian strike is called work according to the rules(eng. work-to-rule).
This method of strike struggle is very effective, since it is almost impossible to work strictly according to instructions and, coupled with the bureaucratic nature of job descriptions and the inability to take into account all the nuances in them production activities, this form of protest leads to a significant decline in productivity and, accordingly, to large losses for the enterprise. At the same time, it is difficult to fight the Italian strike with the help of anti-strike laws, and it is almost impossible to bring the initiators to justice, since formally they act in strict accordance with the Labor Code.
Strikers during a strike may not necessarily comply with all, but only some of the rules. Defiantly sloppy work is sometimes also called an Italian strike. Some experts call such a strike a civilized method of expressing their dissatisfaction.
Story
For the first time, such a struggle for one's rights began to be applied in Italy (hence the name) at the beginning of the 20th century. According to some reports, these were Italian pilots who, fighting for their rights, agreed to do everything strictly according to the instructions. As a result, the number of flights has been significantly reduced. According to other sources, for the first time the Italian strike was used by the Italian police. One of the sites reports that for the first time such a strike actually took place in Italy in 1904 with railway workers.
In modern Russia, the Italian strike at the Ford assembly plant near St. Petersburg and the delay in the adoption of amendments to the law on rallies organized by the Righteous Russians, which resulted in an unprecedentedly long meeting of the State Duma, are well known. The latter would be more correct to call the word filibaster.
An Italian strike is sometimes also (inaccurately) referred to as a refusal to leave a job despite an employer's order.
In domestic literature, the Italian strike is described in Dmitry Dmitrievich Nagishkin's novel "The Heart of Bonivur": during the Japanese intervention in the Far East, the workers decide to pull the "Italian bagpipes":
The controller bounced off the riveter.
- Are you Italian?
- Italian is better than Japanese!
The controller darted around in his area. He saw that the lesson had hardly progressed since the morning, despite the outward impression of hard work. The senior controller ran to the office.
Japanese strike
In Japan, a similar form of protest is common - the so-called "Japanese strike". Employees warn the employer about it a month in advance. During the strike, everyone works according to the rules, while details (inscriptions, symbols) are used in clothes that speak of the demands put forward or simply about the very fact of a disagreement with the employer.
Works of art
- Dmitry Nagishkin: Heart of Bonivur: A Novel - 2006 ISBN 5-9533-1426-4
- Arthur Hailey: Moneychangers / The Moneychangers. Novel. (1975)
see also
Links
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See what the "Italian strike" is in other dictionaries:
See SIT-IN STRIKE… Encyclopedic Dictionary of Economics and Law
The term that came into use in Russian. press in connection with the struggle (spring 1905) Italian. railroad workers against attempts to deprive them of the right to strike. In this struggle, they resorted to the method of obstruction or sabotage (at that time promoted by the French, ... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia
Pub. Obsolete Careless, slow work. /i> Associated with a specific historical event in 1904, when the Italian railway workers used a new method in the strike struggle. BMS 1998, 193 ...
Italian strike- A type of strike during which the strikers come to the place of work, but do not work ... Dictionary of many expressions Big dictionary of Russian sayings
AND; pl. genus. wok, dat. vkam; and. Organized mass shutdown; strike. Call a strike. Universal h. ◊ Italian strike (see Italian). ◁ Strike, oh, oh. 3rd movement. Z. committee. Z. fund. * * * strike… … encyclopedic Dictionary
Strike- termination of work with the presentation of requirements. This word comes from the word "that's enough." Strikes (otherwise strikes) are a powerful tool in the economic and political class struggle. Depending on the nature of the presented ... ... Popular political vocabulary
A protest movement or strikes at an enterprise is an unpleasant thing, but it is even worse if the employer does not know how to prevent it and deal with it if it has already arisen. This topic was the subject of a roundtable discussion held by the Human Resources Committee at the Association of Russian Managers.
Production disturbances are not only unpleasant, but inevitable. One way of expressing them is the Italian strike. In the classical foreign sense, such a protest is work strictly within the framework of the job description. Anything beyond that, the employee refuses to perform. The reasons for the strikes are known - it is discontent. But the worker needs a reason to start protesting.
One of the first reasons for dissatisfaction is salary. What is interesting: it is usually not those who receive little that go on strike, but those whose salaries are quite decent.
According to the participants of the "round table", in Russia God himself ordered to protest - there are many more bottlenecks and technical omissions at our enterprises than in any European country or in America. And people comparing their salaries with the salaries of workers of similar Western factories gives rise to serious dissatisfaction. We have learned to count other people's money, but there is no Western way to work. It happens that the requirements are illogical and unfounded.
For example, employers of European subsidiaries were faced with demands to increase wages by 3 times with the motivation: “We want to live like colleagues in Western countries- why are we worse? To explain why the Russians are "worse" is simple: labor productivity is not growing, and discipline violations continue. But, oddly enough, these arguments do not work. Concessions to workers under such conditions is a very dangerous trend, and if it is allowed to develop, then wages will inflate, and efficiency will not increase. The employer will transfer the enterprises to those countries where they are more profitable.
National character
At any Russian plant, organizing an Italian strike is as easy as shelling pears - the degree of deterioration of the equipment is such that, according to almost all industrial safety rules, it is possible to work on it only by violating the instructions, the participants in the discussion believe. The enterprises were founded in the Soviet period, and since then the shelf life of many equipment has already expired, and labor standards were different 20-30 years ago. And even regardless of investment in new production facilities, the situation leaves much to be desired.
This form of protest is terrifying in that during an ordinary strike, organized according to the law, the directors come to the rescue collective agreement, despite the fact that it extremely weakly protects the interests of employers, it is possible to act within the legal framework. Strictly mandated procedures allow a small, competent, mobile team of well-trained lawyers, labor workers, and other professionals to initiate negotiations with workers' representatives.
In the case of "working by the rules" (see page 8) Unfortunately, the law is silent on what the employer should do, but the decline in labor productivity and loss of profits are inevitable for him. The Italian strike can only be resisted by specialists in the field - heads of shops, heads of departments. But the paradox is that none of them is ready to work with protest moods - line managers consider themselves to be in the same community of workers. And even if the heads of departments have the motivation to take the side of the employer, they lack the necessary knowledge and skills: they cannot always explain the position of the employer and distinguish between actions within the framework of working by the rules and direct sabotage.
For example, if the high-speed traffic indicator is not lit on the car that is supposed to go on the route, the refusal to work is legal, but the claim for the lack of a rug when leaving the premises is not a reason for absence from the workplace, but sabotage. However, people take advantage of this and are convinced that the law will be on their side.
By the way, one of the ways to reduce costs when working according to the rules is recertification for knowledge of safety regulations during Italian strike. The audit shows that many workers often do not remember the fundamental standards and cannot be allowed to work initially. In this case, part of the salary for the period when they do not work at full capacity can be deducted.
Always ready
It is difficult to prevent an Italian strike, but it is quite possible to be prepared for it. You need to know well all the bottlenecks of the enterprise, which threaten to stop or underload production. In these sectors, strong line managers should be in leadership positions. It should be noted that this is not always easy: industrial engineering specialties were poorly in demand for a certain period of time and the quality of personnel does not always meet modern requirements. These people are primarily techies and as manager-managers are not the most effective workers.
The participants in the discussion agreed that the most effective way to avoid protest is to rely on line management. This will not help to avoid protest as a whole, since it is generated by the society itself, but will allow it to be entered into linear structure enterprises. Employers are starting from the wrong premises: they are trying either to rely on the law or to make friends with the union. But the law does not work in the event of an Italian strike, and friendship with the trade union can be useless, because the origins of the protest are among the workers, not professional workers.
If there is an authoritative master in the workshop, there will never be a protest, since discontent often has personal roots. It is useless to punish the worker - he will not change, he can only be stimulated. Probably, foremen or heads of workshops should be given, for example, the right to distribute social benefits. If a worker turns to the factory management, it means that the authority of the foreman has fallen and the manager of this section needs to be changed, otherwise discontent will not be avoided in the future.
The second preventive measure in the case of the Italian strike is a reserve of trained people with certificates and licenses to work with complex devices in the workshops of potential rioters. In case of refusal to work, management can quickly replace the striking specialists.
In addition, it will be useful to review and systematize the safety instructions and briefing.
Trade unions get back on their feet
But one of the main conditions for successful resistance to the Italian strike is the solidarity actions of all representatives of the employer. This is difficult, because it is easier to form one anti-strike group than to build a serious, systematic, systemic opposition.
Trade unions are more successful in this respect. For a long time, employers did not take trade unions seriously - trade union leaders were engaged in distributing vouchers and distributing social benefits. When all the levers of control passed into the hands of business, employers decided that public organizations lose their reputation among workers, and miscalculated.
At this time, trade union leaders studied, read methodical literature and trained their lawyers. The attitude of the employer towards trade unions as a tool that is not quite efficient still exists in some large enterprises, and the time has already come to think about how to strengthen the position of the employer to protect their interests.
Picture: Dmitry Petrov / "Solidarity"
A form of collective protest actions in which employees of an enterprise work strictly in accordance with the laws and regulations of their enterprise, absolutely not deviating from the norms and not doing anything beyond their prescribed obligations. Since the implementation of all bureaucratic procedures in any country and at any enterprise is practically impossible, the Italian strike leads to a significant slowdown in work and a decrease in labor productivity (in some cases it comes to a complete stoppage of production). At the same time, the participants in the Italian strike act in full accordance with the law, which means that it is not possible to bring them to justice under any article of the law.
First of all, primary trade union organization it is necessary to involve as many employees as possible in this action, because the action will be effective only if it is massive. Make a decision at a meeting of the labor collective or trade union committee on the start of work according to the rules and notify the employer of this decision.
In connection with the campaign, it is necessary to explain to the employees participating in it the following rules (observance of them excludes the possibility of bringing the employee to disciplinary liability and increases the effectiveness of this event):
1. Accurately observe the rules of internal labor regulations (hereinafter referred to as the PVTR, paragraph 2, part 2, article 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
2. Require a real safety briefing where it is provided (for example, during hot work), and not just put a signature in the familiarization log. In accordance with Part 2 of Art. 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employee is obliged to comply with the requirements for labor protection and ensuring labor safety, but at the same time, under Part 1 of Art. 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, an employee has the right to complete reliable information about working conditions and labor protection requirements at the workplace.
3. Strictly comply with the established labor (production) standards (part 1 of article 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), in no case exceeding them.
4. In the absence of equipment, tools, technical documentation and other means necessary for the employee to perform his labor duties, immediately inform the employer (immediate supervisor, other representative of the employer) about this. If due to the lack of this equipment, tools, technical documentation, etc. it is impossible for the employee to fulfill his labor duties, it is also necessary to notify the employer of the start of downtime due to the fault of the employer (part 4 of article 157 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
5. If the employee is not provided with personal and collective protective equipment in accordance with the established norms, it is necessary to notify the employer of the start of downtime due to his fault. According to part 5 of Art. 220 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation in this case, the employer is not entitled to demand from the employee the performance of labor duties and apply any disciplinary action to the employee in connection with the refusal to perform labor duties.
6. If the PWTR states that the employee is obliged to clean up at the workplace at the end of work (or keep workplace clean) - to tidy up the workplace not after the end of the working day, but 5 minutes before the end of the working day, since this is charged to the employee as a duty that he must fulfill within the prescribed time.
7. Do only that work and observe only those labor obligations which are provided for by his labor (official) duties, with which the employee is familiar.
8. Refuse to work on weekends and holidays(Article 113 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) and from overtime work (Article 99 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, it must be remembered that to involve the employee in work on weekends and holidays overtime work without his consent is possible only in cases specified by law, namely:
1) to prevent a catastrophe, industrial accident or eliminate the consequences of a catastrophe, industrial accident or natural disaster;
2) to prevent accidents, destruction or damage to the property of the employer, state or municipal property;
3) to perform work, the need for which is due to the introduction of a state of emergency or martial law, as well as urgent work in emergency circumstances, that is, in the event of a disaster or threat of disaster (fires, floods, famine, earthquakes, epidemics or epizootics) and in other cases, endangering the life or normal living conditions of the entire population or part of it.
Variation on a theme - Japanese strike
According to the free encyclopedia Wikipedia, a similar form of protest is common in Japan, similar to the Italian strike - the so-called "Japanese strike". A month before the start, employees warn the employer. During the strike, everyone works according to the rules, while details (inscriptions, symbols) are used in clothes that speak of the demands put forward or simply about the very fact of a disagreement with the employer.
The type of strike that is called the Italian strike does not imply a complete suspension of work. The strikers perform duties in compliance with all instructions, which greatly increases the time. How the courts treat such actions and what consequences the strike entails for the company.
To fight for their rights, workers use different methods. One of them is the suspension of activities. The law defines the concept of a strike: it is a temporary voluntary refusal of workers from work in order to resolve a collective labor dispute ().
There are situations when, formally, an employee does not refuse duties, but efficiency and speed lose to normal performance. It is difficult to find fault if the employee fits into the standards and does not violate the routine. This method of strike is called Italian: consider what it is and how employees use it.
What is an Italian strike
The legislation does not contain the concept of "Italian strike". AT judicial acts the term is rare. It is believed that this method of fighting for rights got its name from the name of the country where it was first used.
The Italian strike is work strictly according to established norms and rules. It often takes time to follow multiple directions. If in the usual mode some of the instructions are not followed in order to speed up the work process and increase its efficiency, then in the event of such a strike, on the contrary, the workers scrupulously follow all the instructions. As a result, the execution of tasks is delayed.
The Italian method of strike is used by employees of large organizations. For example, transport companies, enterprises in the field of air or railway transportation, etc. For the employer, acting on instructions threatens to lag behind in the work process, losses and other negative consequences.
How the strike “in Italian” is used in Russia
In Russia, this method is known, although it is rare. This happens because, most often, duties in job descriptions wear general character. Complicated procedures, in respect of which the Italian strike will have an effect, are found in the work of tellers or other personnel. Detailing is present when, for example, there are automated programs for recording working hours, filling out documents, or other ways of fixing the process and result.
Two examples of such a strike in the Russian Federation are the actions of the workers of the Ford plant in St. Petersburg. They first applied the method in 2005. The reason was the payment rules. To bring about change, the union made demands and promised to start an indefinite strike. The trade union announced such a strike again in April 2019.
What will the employer face if his employees start an Italian strike
Italian strikes are usually initiated by the union. Workers sabotage or deliberately slow down the work process after the employer has refused to comply with their demands. Such ways to assert rights turn into problems for the employer.
First, it is difficult to prove the fact of a strike, since the work is going on. Practice shows that dismissal due to sabotage is difficult. The employee may, through the court, demand reinstatement if the company does not prove the grounds for terminating the employment contract (decision of the Krasnoperekopsky District Court of the Republic of Crimea No. 2-1431 / 2016 ~ M-1307 / 2016 dated 10.10.2016).
Secondly, it is difficult to bring to justice those who participate in the Italian strike. For example, state-financed organization health care went to court. The society asked to declare the strike illegal. The applicant addressed the claim to the primary trade union organization of healthcare workers in the city. The plaintiff believed that the strike violated the provisions of the law (Chapter 61 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The applicant indicated that he had previously received a collective appeal from a group of district doctors and nurses about violations of their labor rights. The reason for the letter was an order that changed the assessment of labor and the procedure for calculating incentive payments. The employees demanded that the review be banned and that the funds be sent to them before the deadline specified in the letter.
The message was sent by the chairman of the primary trade union organization of health workers. He warned that, based on the decision of the trade union, “work will be carried out in compliance with all standards, with maximum consideration for the interests of each child established by law and office hours of the institution. The employees planned to follow the instructions, punctually comply with all norms and rules. They were going to spend not the usual 5-6 minutes on patients, but the required 13-20 minutes according to the standards. Employees planned to exclude work at the expense of personal time. The court dismissed the claim. It considered that the applicant had failed to provide evidence of organizing and declaring a strike in children's clinics. Since there is no suspension of work, there is no dispute (decision of the Supreme Court of the Udmurt Republic dated April 10, 2013 in case No. 3-22/2013 dated October 25, 2016).
A huge number of workers in various fields of activity around the world use various measures as a protest, among which there is a strike. Its Italian variety is significantly different from most analogues, and at the same time, the employer has no reason to punish employees in any way. This is its advantage, but also partly its disadvantage, which allows management to ignore the demands of the workers. The effectiveness of a strike varies depending on the mood of the employees, the functions they perform, and the severity of the problem. The more complex the issue under discussion and the more opportunities employees have, the greater the chance of a positive result.
What is an Italian strike?
This concept is a protest action in which people, instead of refusing to perform their functions, on the contrary, begin to perform them so meticulously and literally that labor efficiency drops significantly. This is the main difference from other analogues. In the usual case, work simply stops, which allows the employer to apply certain measures of influence on rebellious subordinates. But in the version with the Italian variety, there are simply no formal reasons for such actions. It is based on the impossibility of drawing up such an official or office instructions, which would correctly evaluate all the activities of the employee. Often, much of it is indicated very vaguely, which allows employees to find fault with each item. Work will be carried out, but much slower and not as efficiently as in normal mode.
First application
The term "Italian strike" first appeared in 1904. It was introduced by employees of the railway company, who were extremely dissatisfied with the activities of the management, but did not have the opportunity to simply stop working. Instead, they began to perform their functions very meticulously and did not deviate a single step from them. In theory, this approach should have caused an increase in work efficiency, but in fact everything began to happen much more slowly. Many trains were canceled and the company suffered huge losses. According to other sources, for the first time the same thing happened also in Italy, but not with the railway workers, but with the pilots. The essence of this does not change. An interesting feature is that in some cases not those instructions are used according to which the workers are obliged to perform their functions, but rules specially developed by the employees themselves, which do not contradict the law and the letter of the regulatory documentation, but in fact significantly slow down the work process.
Events in the port of St. Petersburg
In Russia, this happened for the first time around 1907. At least this year is indicated in the newspaper in which such a term was first discovered. To this day, such strikes regularly take place around the world. In 2015, another Italian strike took place in St. Petersburg. The seaport, whose workers protested against the existing employment contracts, was practically paralyzed, although all his functions were performed strictly. Is that very long and extremely inefficient. The losses were enormous. The company initially tried to find some kind of compromise, but invariably encountered a lack of willingness on the part of the workers to make concessions. In the end, the situation was resolved. Details were not disclosed, but it is unlikely that both sides achieved exactly the conditions they wanted.
Doctors in Moscow
Another similar case, albeit not on such a scale, befell our capital. Moscow, where the Italian strike took place in the same year 2015, did not particularly feel the inconvenience, since the problem concerned working conditions in one single hospital. And not all doctors joined the protests. But the situation received a strong enough response, which the doctors sought. It is difficult to imagine how a doctor who strictly adheres to all instructions, standards and requirements will act. In fact, given the total number of them and the fact that they interpret the same thing in very different ways, it is not surprising that the service in the medical institution has been practically stopped.
Protests in the State Duma
Even before the moment when the Italian doctors' strike began, in 2012, this was happening in the country's governing bodies. Thus, the deputies of the "Fair Russia" tried to drag out time for consideration of a bill that did not suit them, as a result of which such a protest action was chosen. It was expressed in the monotonous reading and consideration of hundreds of amendments, each of which was refined for an incredibly long time. It was planned to make about 1000 such elements, but only 357 turned out. This did not lead to success. The only thing we managed to achieve was to stretch out a couple of extra hours of time. Intervened by "United Russia", which tritely crushed the problem with the number of their votes.
Japanese variety
The Italian strike has direct analogues in other countries. Japan is a great example of this, where employees often stage similar protests as well. But taking into account the mentality of the population of this state, this happens in a somewhat peculiar way. The first difference, which is simply incomprehensible to a Russian person, is the warning of the employer that exactly in a month, if he does not heed the demands of the employees, they will go on strike. It is expressed simply in the fact that, in addition to strictly following the instructions, they adorn their uniforms along the way with badges and inscriptions indicating the fact against which the protest is taking place.
Italian truckers
Not all protests on the Apennine Peninsula take place in this style. A direct example of this is the Italian truckers' strike, which was carried out in a hard-line manner. They simply blocked all major transport routes, paralyzing the country for a long period. There was even a shortage of products in stores, which had not happened for a very long time. The losses for the state were incredible. Ultimately, the requirements of the drivers were met. If we analyze all the factors, we can conclude that the Italian type of strike rarely leads to the desired result. Most often, it simply attracts the opinion of the public and indirectly forces the management to at least partially satisfy the requirements of employees. Such protests rarely occur for really serious reasons.
How to deal with Italian strikes?
When such a concept first appeared, the question immediately arose of what to do if it was impossible to satisfy the demands of the protesters. There are several main methods. The first is based on ignoring the very fact of the strike. If the company is not fundamentally profit or reduced efficiency, then no positive effect can be achieved simply. This is true with respect to government agencies, most of which do not generate any income. Another option is to foresee such a possibility in advance and create such instructions, the verbatim execution of which will not affect the company's efficiency. It's practically impossible. The third method is pressure on employees. This is not only dangerous, because it can lead to a tougher protest, but also in many cases illegal. The easiest option is to listen to the requirements of employees and, to the extent possible, explain why they are not feasible. Promise to improve the situation as soon as there are opportunities to do so, and so on. Usually this is enough, but you need to remember that promises will have to be fulfilled sooner or later.
Results
The Italian strike is one of the completely legal methods of protest. It does not in any way allow the employer to impose penalties or penalties on employees. This is both its strong and its weak side. With such a strike, employees are still forced to go to work and strictly perform their functions. It is not always possible to achieve such an effect that would make the employer really listen to the requirements. In principle, such a protest action is an average option between a complete shutdown of the company's activities and its normal operation. It is noted that serious issues are not resolved in this way, but it is quite possible to draw attention to minor problems.