In ancient times, as in the Middle Ages, no one even heard of strikes. If the slaves refused to work, they were either resold to someone who could handle them, or flogged on their own until the desire to work arose. The feudal lord, on the other hand, could drive a peasant who did not want to go out into the field, depriving him of the opportunity to grow his own food, or give him up as a soldier.

Strike is the way to fight employees with the owner of industrial capacities and tools of production. The term itself comes from the Italian word basta, which translates as "enough / stop." To stop during the strike, workers can demand financial fraud, during which their wages are withheld, or not paid in the amount in which they wish to receive it. Also, the strike may be associated with political demands.

This event is carried out as follows - the workers refuse to fulfill their duties in production until the owner of the plant or factory fulfills their requirements. A strike is possible only under the following conditions:

• The basis of the economy is production, which requires hired workers - free people who are lured to workplace possible only by economic promises.
• Limited number of skilled workers. If there are many unemployed specialists, and the economic situation in the country is in crisis, then the strikers are immediately replaced with strikebreakers.
• The working team is formed from people of the same income and is quite stable. The demands put forward during the strike must be clear to everyone, and its purpose must be important.

Italian recipe

The employer fought the strikes in different ways. One could, of course, ask the Cossacks with whips to chase the protesting proletariat, but such a luxury is also not cheap, especially for the owner of an idle factory. Among the simplest methods to solve the problem was to fire the strikers and hire new workers. To expel with a wolf ticket someone who does not want to work and has come up with some reasons for that is a couple of trifles. To avoid such a sad fate, the Italian strike was invented.

According to historical information, Italian aviators of the early 20th century invented this method of working struggle. Risk guys were underpaid, and they carefully studied the charter of flying. It turned out that a lot of the requirements set out there are meaningless and curious. For several days, the pilots lived according to the charter and practically did not take off. There was nothing to fire them for, since they followed all the instructions correctly, they had to pay.

The people liked the idea. Soon an Italian strike was also held at Russian plants and factories. Our people are dashing - they love to work in such a way that the matter would be argued in their hands, have fun from the heart, dance and sing ditties. Because of this, the dreary fulfillment of unintelligible points of instructions was very soon called a bagpipe, they said: "pipe", comparing a monotonous working day with the mournful sounds of this musical instrument.

The Rise of the Machines, like in Terminator, is likely to fail instantly. And it's not that the mechanical mind is dumber, it's just that humanity has one big trump card - the ability to score on the rules and put on orders if they are not adequate to reality. This, oddly enough, is our civilizational advantage. That is why the “Italian strike” looks especially curious - a method of sabotage, in which the workers follow absolutely all their instructions and instructions as carefully as possible, and as a result, everything goes to hell, the company suffers losses and risks going bankrupt.

There are a myriad of ways in which workers protest against their bosses, from banal ostracism and rumor-mongering to strikes, hunger strikes, picketing, and even riots. There are many methods, but now the conversation is not about all at once, especially since among them there was one paradoxical and refined in its simplicity. We are talking about the Italian strike - unbanal and original way sabotage that sheds light on society from an unexpected angle.

Actually, the term “Italian strike” is precisely a Russian-language topic. And although the concept is rather vague, in the same English, for example, it is still more vague. There are the terms "stay-in strike" or "work-to-rule", which generally refer to any form of workers' protest in which they remain at the enterprise and do not stop working. It can also be a “Japanese-style” strike, when the collective simply and peacefully hangs out its demands on badges and sabotage in the spirit of the territories occupied by the Nazis – in general, a too vague concept. In this sense, the phrase "Italian strike" is more specific, but also has different meanings.

In its original form, such sabotage looks quite simple and unpretentious: the workers just fulfill their clearly specified obligations, but nothing more - and then the negligent owner suddenly discovers that the hard workers used to work pretty well, and it was a sin to complain. Already in 1904, Italian strikes were practiced in Europe, and by 1907 they reached Russia. In fact, it is not even a fact that such a thing originated in Italy, most likely, something similar existed even in the days of the guilds.

A more mature and refined in its paradoxical form of the Italian strike took shape later - with the formation of an industrial society. The powerful bureaucracy associated with it tried to regulate all spheres and nuances of work and labor discipline. Ideally, this should have turned the enterprise and the entire economy into perfectly working super-efficient Swiss Watches, but life and the workers themselves managed to plant a pig here. When the age of steel alloys and electricity began to reach its zenith - from the 1920s, the situation with the labor movement turned out to be tense for both sides. There were a lot of proletarians and they began to represent a force, but the owners of the factories also learned to tame this element. Laws were used, and brute force, and the use of the same mafia - it was a real war with many fronts.

Then the workers discovered an unexpected solution for themselves - they found a gap in the bureaucratic machine and used it to its fullest. To anyone who delved into work instructions and instructions, three things became clear: they were not written for people, they were made by officials who themselves had not worked a day at the worker’s place, and, finally, they were created stupidly for show, in the hope that no one fool will not climb to fulfill them.

You have already understood that if you idiotically follow every letter of the rules, then the work will immediately go to hell: it will stall, become inefficient, and the enterprise will immediately begin to incur losses. But here is a personal example from the experience of baking plastic cards in a special oven at a serious enterprise. The first thing that turns out is that you don’t need to try to do absolutely everything as in detailed instructions. The thickness of the laminate - check it ten times, the baking temperature - I bet it's wrong. Check everything as written - and you can prepare for a fire that will burn half the floor.

As a result, we come to strange conclusions. From the point of view of industrial discipline, a person who violates the smallest rules is an irresponsible slob and deserves to be blamed. The one who follows the letter of the law verbatim, that is, as it was originally conceived, is a saboteur and almost a saboteur. At the same time, the most important feature of the Italian strike is that, from a formal point of view, the striker not only cannot be punished, but in general should be encouraged for his unthinkable zeal and love for regulations. Show this text to the boss and explain that you are not a rule breaker, but rather a hard worker who loves his job too much to do it clearly according to the instructions.

And most importantly: do not try to repeat this in the workplace.

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definition - Italian strike

Italian strike

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Italian strike- also called obstruction - a form of protest along with a strike and sabotage, which consists in the extremely strict performance by the employees of the enterprise of their 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 hold the initiators accountable, since formally they act in strict accordance with the Labor Code .

Strikers during a strike may without fail follow not all, but only some rules. Defiantly sloppy work is sometimes also called an Italian strike. Some experts call such a strike a civilized method of expressing their dissatisfaction.

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 Russia, the term "Italian strike" has been known since at least the beginning of the 20th century. For example, the newspaper "Russian Word" in the issue of July 22 (09), 1907 reports:

Petersburg-Warsaw railway an "Italian" strike is carried out, consisting in the strict observance of instructions during the production of maneuvers, due to which trains are late and many are canceled.

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.

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 of the Committee on human resources at the Association of Managers of Russia.

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 much 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 their salaries 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

On any Russian plant organizing an Italian strike is as easy as shelling pears - the degree of deterioration of equipment is such that, according to almost all rules industrial safety 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 capacity the situation leaves much to be desired.

This form of protest is terrifying because, in the event of an ordinary strike organized according to the law, the collective agreement comes to the rescue of the directors, despite the fact that it is extremely weak in protecting 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 re-certification for knowledge of safety regulations during the 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 part large enterprises, and the time to think about how to strengthen the position of the employer to protect their interests has already come.

One of effective ways, often used recently by Russian trade unions in the struggle for higher wages, is work by the rules or "Italian strike". What is the meaning of this action and how does it differ from an ordinary strike?

The Italian strike is a form of protest along with strike and sabotage (but not to be confused), which consists in the extremely strict performance by the employees of the enterprise of their duties and rules, not stepping back from them and not going beyond them. The Italian strike is sometimes referred to as work-to-rule.

This method of strike struggle is very effective. Not better way to force an unscrupulous employer to meet the needs of employees than to hit him in the pocket, while not giving him the opportunity to stop paying wages and punish employees for failing to perform their duties. Since it is almost impossible to work strictly according to the instructions and, coupled with the bureaucratic nature of job descriptions and the inability to take into account all the nuances of 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, because. formally they act in strict accordance with Labor Code.
Strikers during a strike may not necessarily comply with all, but only some of the rules. Some experts call such a strike a civilized method of expressing their dissatisfaction.

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 Russia, the term "Italian strike" has been known since at least the beginning of the 20th century. For example, the newspaper "Russian Word" in the issue of July 22 (09), 1907 reports:
“An “Italian” strike is being carried out on the St. Petersburg-Warsaw railway, which consists in strict adherence to instructions during the production of maneuvers, due to which trains are late and many are canceled.”

In Russia, the Italian strike at the Ford assembly plant near St. Petersburg is known.

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 D.D. 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 ... ".

The content of the term "strike" in its traditional sense is disclosed in labor legislation. In accordance with Art. 398 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a strike should be understood as a temporary voluntary refusal of employees to perform their labor duties (in whole or in part) in order to resolve a collective labor dispute. The procedure for announcing and holding a strike is also clearly regulated by labor legislation.

In contrast, the concept of “Italian strike” is unknown to Russian labor legislation, and its conduct is not regulated by any legal norms. And in practice, “Italian strike" means work in conditions of strict observance of all production standards, labor protection rules, industrial and fire safety, work and rest time, refusal to work overtime and work on weekends, etc.

Since there is no such thing as “Italian strike” in the legislation, the procedure for conducting it, the mandatory prior notification of the employer about its conduct, duration, other conditions, as well as any responsibility for holding this action, is not established. Therefore, the Italian strike as a tool for protecting the interests of workers has a clear advantage over the usual strike, because. the latter is possible only after a series of mandatory procedures (holding a conference of employees, the existence of a legally initiated collective labor dispute, the passage of conciliation procedures, etc.), the preparation and conduct of which requires, at best, at least 2 months. In addition, the employer has the opportunity to further delay these procedures, preventing the conference from being held, appealing the actions of employees and the trade union in court, etc.

The question arises: if the Italian strike is work in strict accordance with established rules, job descriptions, etc., then why then is it called a strike, because the employee continues to perform labor obligations? The bottom line is that the rules can work in different ways. You can stay late at work at lunchtime or at the end of the working day, you can agree to work on weekends and overtime, you can do work that is not stipulated employment contract etc. And you can, as established by the rules of the internal work schedule, start and finish work in strict accordance with shift schedules, refuse to work overtime and work on weekends, refuse to work on faulty equipment until the malfunctions are eliminated, do not perform any work other than that stipulated by the employment contract and job description, strictly observe the rules of labor protection, industrial and fire safety and stop work if there is a threat to the life and health of workers, etc. Moreover, all this is absolutely legal, and cannot be the basis for applying any disciplinary measures to the employee.

Recently, Italian strikes have periodically taken place at large Russian enterprises and almost always give positive results for workers. Italian strikes have been resorted to in recent years by the dock workers of the Sea Port of St. Petersburg and the Novorossiysk Marine trading port, employees of OAO Kachkanar GOK Vanadiy, the Leningrad Metal Plant, the Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk and many other enterprises.

Thus, the "Italian strike" is a common, effective, civilized and legal way for workers to defend their interests.

What is an Italian strike, as defined by its organizers? Here are the statements recorded by A. Ilyin of members of the trade union committee of the Ford Motor Company plant in Vsevolozhsk, who have rich practical experience in conducting such actions.
- This, - explained one of the members of the trade union committee, - work according to the rules. It is known that the work instructions are carried out with us partially. Softly said. As a rule, take more, throw further. As soon as we start working according to the rules, we have such a decline in productivity ...
- This is not a strike. Only the title. This is how we have to work. And now we are working in violation of all requirements. And for this we would be punished for not complying with them. Approach the safety engineer and ask for instructions.
The Italian strike at the Ford took place from 21 to 25 November 2005. According to most sources, during the Italian strike, the plant reduced output by 15-20 cars per day (315 cars less per week), which, according to experts, could create severe disruptions in the delivery of the required number of cars to dealers, and from them to buyers . According to the trade union committee, the decline was up to 30%.
- The Italian strike was prepared in one day. On Sunday they sat down and decided, then they postponed it for a week. At first they doubted that it would work, but when it came to a head… And when they realized that people would not go on a normal strike before the New Year, because everyone wants to earn money, they decided to do an Italian one.
Working according to the rules to a different extent disrupts normal production, which is based on the assumption of systematic violations of the rules. The main direction was the control of rules during transportation.
- Big role delivery played. The guys on tractors began to drive 5 km per hour as expected, just super, the line immediately began to wedge.
- In our brigade, the requirement was fulfilled: “5 km per hour”. The purpose of the strike is not to kill production, but to achieve something. For example, we have added people. Previously, it was not noticeable, we are worn, tongue on the shoulder. Further, you can not drive past the equipment closer than a few meters. They: “But we have cars!”. The plant is not designed to comply with all these rules.

True, it is even more difficult to follow these rules than to break them. Try to drive at a speed of 5 km/h for a week. People drive with eyes like this. "Well, your mother!" - they say.
- They put bottles under their pedals so as not to go faster.
The second direction is safety control.
- Immediately in many areas stopped work on specifications, downtime was at 4 or 5 o'clock, then we already had a labor protection inspection, we organized it. A little something - they immediately got a call, and they flooded: there is a threat to life!
The workers as a whole supported the decision of the trade union committee to go on strike in Italy.
- And how did the people react to this strike? - I ask the chairman of the trade union committee.
- With delight! Less work, more cost.
True, not all the workers agreed, for various reasons, to participate in the strike.
- Strikebreakers, - admits the chairman, - there were. But here how? If the conveyor is standing, then what's the difference, everything is worth it. But those who violated were cut off, one went like a wild pilot, talked to him, stopped. You can't go against the team. The people are beginning to realize that everything depends on collective action.
As a result of the Italian strike, management began to take the rules more seriously.
- Masters are trying to beat us with our own weapons, demanding compliance with all the rules. But they do not understand that we can get them 100 times more.
- It's for the best. You yourself will get used to the order, because there are industrial injuries.

First of all, the primary trade union organization needs to involve as many workers as possible in this action, because the action will be effective only if it is massive. Make a decision at the meeting labor collective or the trade union committee about the start of work according to the rules and notify about this decision employer.

In connection with the action, it is necessary to explain to the employees participating in it following rules(their observance excludes the possibility of involving an employee in disciplinary responsibility 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 fulfill 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 established standards, 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 the workplace at the end of work (or keep the workplace clean) - clean up the workplace not after the end of the working day, but 5 minutes before the end of the working day, since this is the responsibility of the employee which he is obliged to fulfill within the prescribed time.

7. Perform only that work and observe only those labor duties that 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 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 situations, 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.