A comparative analysis across Germany, the US, and Italy

Projektziel

This project conducts a comparative analysis of worker representation strategies at Amazon warehouses in Germany, Italy, and the US. Through in-depth case studies and interviews, it examines the forms and strategies of worker institutions in enhancing worker voice for Amazon warehouse workers across these countries.

Projektbeschreibung

Kontext

Amazon is one of the largest and fastest growing companies in the world. The company has come to symbolize modern corporate practices in the 21st century, not only in how it structures work but also in its union-busting tactics aimed at undermining labor mobilization and negotiations. At the same time, across different countries, distinct workplace institutions try to improve worker voice at Amazon. For example, works councils have been established in Amazon warehouses in Germany. Trade unions have elected worker representatives and even negotiated an agreement with Amazon in Italy. Trade unions and worker centers advocate for warehouse workers in the US. Examining the different strategies of worker interest representation at Amazon warehouses across these three countries allows us to identify and extract factors that contribute to the success/failure of improving worker voice as well as to assess the potential for cross-country applicability and transferability of these practices.

Fragestellung

We pose the following research questions:

1. What are the strategies and power resources of the main workplace institutions present at Amazon warehouses and how can we understand the degree of their success/failure towards improving worker voice?

2. To what extent do we see differences or similarities across local and national contexts and how can we explain these differences?

3. Under which conditions do we see coordination between the different workplace institutions at a national level and what are the possible implications at a cross-national level?

To understand the variety of strategies, their different degrees of success, as well as cross-national differences we hypothesize that factors such as the industrial relation systems, union identities, and the employer and state strategies will lead to different power resources and therefore different strategies.

Untersuchungsmethoden

Our case study comparison is set up within the logistics industry, examining warehouses of one specific company (Amazon) across carefully selected sites. We focus on the strategies and power resources of worker interest representation at Amazon warehouses across three countries: Germany, Italy, and the US. We selected the countries because of their analytic and strategic importance within this comparative design. Furthermore, in each country, we focus on three specific warehouses. These warehouses are geographically dispersed within each country and have different forms and strategies of worker interest representation, allowing within-country comparisons. Data from the research is qualitative, mainly through one-on-one interviews with key actors in the case studies, as well as participant observation whenever possible, in addition to literature and documents from the organizations and through social/public media. These are the most appropriate methods to answer our research questions.