WORKER SATISFACTION AND
OCQUPATIGNAL LIFE, A STUDY OF THE

AUTQMGBILE WORKER IN ITALY

Thesis for IIwe Degree of DI). D.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Pack) Ammassari

1964

THESIS

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This is to certify that the
thesis entitled
WORKER SATISFACTION AND OCCUPATIONAL LIFE,

A STUDY OF THE AUTOMOBILE WORKER IN ITALY

presented by

Paolo Ammassari

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

_EI1.[L_degree in_.£.o.c.l.o.l_ogy and
Anthropology

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Date 17 September, I964

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ABSTRACT

WORKER SATISFACTION AND OCCUPATIONAL LIFE, A STUDY
OF THE AUTOMOBILE WORKER IN ITALY

by Paolo Ammassari

This study was designed to investigate the pattern
of satisfactions and dissatisfactions which the Italian worker
in modern industry derives from his occupational activity.
It was hypothesized that the integration of modern man in
various areas of social and occupational life is a function
of the stage of industrial development of a society and its
pace of economic change. This "developmental model" called
for a broader perspective into the subject of worker
satisfaction. Accordingly, in addition to the common areas
of worker satisfaction, e.g., job, working conditions, and
work associates,two new areas were explored: satisfaction
for economic sector of employment and type of occupation.
This perspective permitted a focus on some problems rarely
investigated, such as the effects of intergenerational
sector mobility on worker satisfaction and the impact of
occupational characteristics (job versus trade types) on
work attitudes.

A sample of 300 automobile workers were interviewed

in Turin, Italy, during 1962. The sample was stratified

 

Paolo Ammassari

atnzording to skill level and union orientation, and included
“markers from two assembly lines, a production department,
arui an experimental department. The analysis was conducted
cu) data.from forced-choice and open—ended questions with

a :series of composite indices. Contingency distributions
arui multivariate analysis constituted the main tools of
arualysis, while statistical significance was ascertained by
means of Chi—Square and derivative tests.

The investigation of workers' attitudes in each of
‘thea areas of worker satisfaction confirmed the assumption
“Chart worker satisfaction is not an over-all entity but a
(Sisnzrete cluster of attitudes and feelings. The findings
iruiicated that satisfaction in selected areas did not follow
true same pattern. In fact, skill level and other standard
Vitriables such as age, seniority, and residence differed
ir1 the direction and strength of their association in the
several areas of worker satisfaction.

A major substantive finding was that Italian auto—
nuibile workers were not more dissatisfied than workers of
cyther'industrially more mature countries. However, societal
axui cultural aspects of Italian life shaped their attitudes
tuyward employment in the industrial sector, enhancing
satisfactions but limiting aspirations. Also, the older
tine family's occupational traditions, the stronger was the
Vworker's attachment to it.

Having a trade in the highly specialized automobile
.industry was source of high satisfaction. However, if the

vworker was unable to exercise his occupational qualifications

Paolo Ammassari

fiLLly, as was the case for many semi-skilled workers.
skuills were more a source of dissatisfaction than satis-
fEurtion. Thus the skills which gave the worker a potential
tx) move into other occupations aggravated his problems of
auijustment in his present job. In a developing country
“finere there is a rapid expansion of the economy and a constant
rexiefinition of industrial and occupational classifications,
ocnzupational level may not correspond precisely to skill
capacities. In this case, the commonly found association
between skill level and occupational satisfaction may be
problematic.

Evaluation of job tasks was highly dependent upon
type of work. Satisfaction was fostered by the physical
arui technical conditions of work, while dissatisfaction
ainose from the work's psychological demands. With the
exception of age, occupation variables played a greater
Inale in job satisfaction than the socio—personal character-
:istics of the worker.

very few workers disliked their physical work—
pilace, and even fewer disliked their workmates. But among
‘those who were unhappy with the physical environment there
snas a relatively large proportion of skilled workers. Un-
<axpectedly, unskilled workers on the assembly lines were
'the most satisfied of all. However, their adjustment was
likely to decrease with time.

Satisfaction with workmates varied according to

<3ifferent patterns of interaction on the job. Intermediate

Paolo Ammassari

armounts of interaction required by job performance appeared
tc> foster more satisfaction than no interaction or a great
armount of it. Thus too little or too much dependence on
vnxrkmates for job performance tended to promote dissatis—
.feu:tion with them. Social interaction which was not
reuquired by job performance was, on the other hand, greatly
irnfluenced by the ideological dimension. Extreme political
cusientations and high union involvement appeared to be
associated with dissatisfaction with workmates. The
stzrongly differentiated Italian ideological climate largely
acnzounts for this finding. Apparently the relatively low
clJass—consciousness of the recent labor force irritated
many older workers who were concerned with political and
union traditions.

Though the Turinese automobile workers generally con—
sixhered unionism as an important aspect of their occupational
lgives, very few of them converted their interest into actual
Lnuion participation. Dissatisfied workers were the most
iJuterested in union affairs, although they were not
liighly involved in union activities. This dissatisfaction
inas transformed into a protest against in—plant conditions
.and conditions in the larger society.

Finally, a split was found between worker satisfaction
cnu one hand, and neighborhood and community involvement on
the other. Although unionism played a role in connecting
‘these two worlds, in general social activities outside the

plant.were more dependent on social and personal characteristics

 

 

 

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Paolo Ammassari

of the worker than on his patterns of work satisfaction.
This dichotomy between work and broader social life may be
a consequence of the rapid changes current in Italy.
Changes in many areas of social life are modifying old
patterns of social behavior before new ones become well
established. In such a situation, the connections between
*work and other areas of social life appear differently
patterned in different areas of social life, by the

(differential impact of industrial development.

 

WORKER SATISFACTION AND OCCUPATIONAL LIFE,

OF THE AUTOMOBILE WORKER IN ITALY

BY

Paolo Ammassari

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

1964

A STUDY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My greatest debt of gratitude is to Professor
William H. Form. I owe him more than any acknowledgment
could indicate. Since I came to the United States, after
receiving my doctorate in Political Science at the University
of Florence, Professor Form encouraged me to pursue further
my academic interests in Sociology and constantly, with great
generosity of mind and heart, helped me throughout the
stages of my program. In particular, this dissertation
would never have been undertaken and completed without
his valuable direction, deep confidence, and steady support.

I am also grateful to all the members of my guidance
committee, Professors Jay W. Artis, Archie 0. Haller, Iwao
Ishino, Charles P. Loomis, James B. McKee, and Alfred G.
Meyer, for their advice and stimulation.

Finally, I would like to thank the faculty and
staff of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations for
their kind support and assistance: the American Commission
for Cultural Exchange with Italy, Rome, for providing me
with a Fulbright Travel Grant: and the Conference Board
of Associated Research Councils, Washington, for their

sponsorship during the years 1963-1964.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
ILNTRODUCTION . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
PART ONE: THE FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY . . . . . . . . 4
Chapter
I. THE PROBLEM OF WORKER SATISFACTION . . . . . . 4
Current Theory and Research on "Job
Satisfaction" 4
Social and Technical Division of Work 8
Worker Satisfaction in a Developing
Country 12
II. THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN ITALY . . . . . . . 16
The Italian Economic Development 17
Turin and the Automobile Industry 26
The FIAT Company 34
IIII. LABOR FORCE AND TRADE UNIONISM IN ITALY . . . 39
Labor Force and Industrial Growth 39
The Turin Automobile Workers 44
Industrial Workers of a Developing
Country 51
Italian Trade Unionism 60
Plant Union Organization at FIAT 73
PART TWO: WORK AND SATISFACTION . . . . . . . . . . . 79
IV} ON BEING AN INDUSTRIAL WORKER: THE PROBLEM
OF SECTOR SATISFACTION . . . . . . . . . . 79
The Economic Sector of Employment 81
The Choice between Farm, Office, and
Factory Work 85
The Choice of Office Worker, Small
Independent Farmer, and Skilled
Factory Worker 94
Satisfaction with Employment in
the Industrial Sector 102

iii

Chapter Page

V. HAVING A TRADE OR HOLDING A JOB: MODALITIES
OF OCCUPATIONAL SATISFACTION . . . . . . . 107
Satisfaction with Present Occupation 113
The Desire to Change Occupation 121
Conclusions 127
VI. DOING THE JOB: SATISFACTION WITH THE TASKS . 134
The Nature of Job Performance 135
Feelings of Satisfaction with Job Tasks 139
Desire to Change Present Job Tasks 155
Conclusions 162
VII. LIVING IN THE SHOP: WORK ENVIRONMENT
SATISFACTION .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Satisfaction with the Physical Setting
of Work 170
Satisfaction with the Social Setting
of Work 177
Conclusions 183
PART THREE: WORKER SATISFACTION AND SOCIAL LIFE . . . 186
\KIII. SOCIAL ASPECTS OF OCCUPATIONAL LIFE:
UNIONISM.................186
Union Interest and Involvement 188
The Ideological Environment 196
Worker Satisfaction and Unionism 202
IX. SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AND OCCUPATIONAL LIFE . . . 205
Neighborhood Life 206
VOluntary Associations 208
Community Involvement 210
Worker Satisfaction and Social
Activities 214
X. FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . 216
IBIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . 222
,APPENDICES . . . . .. . . . . .... . . .... . . . . 228

iv

Table

l.

10.

ll.

12.

LIST OF TABLES

Areas of investigation and foci of inquiry
into worker satisfaction . . . . . . . . .

Per cent distribution of Italy's active

population by sector of economic activity,
1861—1960 . . . . . . . . .

Number and percentage of employed workers by
industries, Turin, 1876 and 1951 .

Number of employed in metal—mechanical
manufacturing, Turin Commune and Province,
1848-1911 . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Per cent distribution of active population by
sector of economic activity in Turin
Commune, Provincial Territory, and
total Province, 1936 to 1961 . .

Per cent distribution of active population by
sector of economic activity in Turin
Commune, Turin Province, Piedmont and
Italy, 1951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Percentage of workers by present age and age
of first employment . . . . . . . . .

Skill levels of workers by community of birth
and education . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Percentage of workers by community of
residence, and size of community of work
socialization . . . . . . . . . . .

Major occupations of paternal grandfathers by
fathers' major occupation . . . . . . .

Fathers' major occupation by sons' occupational
background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Workers who preferred farm, office, or factory
work according to their prior sector of
employment . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Page

14

18

28

3O

33

43

46

50

50

53

55

88

Table

13.

14.

15.

l6.

17.

18.

19.

ZCL

21.

Page

Workers who preferred farm, office, or
factory work according to their
fathers' sector of employment . . . . . . . 90

‘Workers who preferred farm, office, or
factory work according to their
grandfathers' and fathers' sector
of employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Workers with grandfathers and fathers in
agriculture who preferred factory work
according to their occupational back-
ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Workers who selected skilled factory worker as
the most satisfactory occupation
according to their choice of skilled
factory worker, office worker, or small
independent farmer as the occupation most
respected, desirable and necessary . . . . 96

Workers who chose skilled factory worker,
office worker, or small independent
farmer as the most satisfactory occupation
according to their prior sector of
employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

WOrkers who chose skilled factory worker,
office worker, or small independent
farmer as the most satisfactory
occupation according to their fathers'
sector of employment . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Workers who chose skilled factory worker, or
small independent farmer as the most
satisfactory occupation according to
their fathers' and grandfathers'
sector of employment . . . . . . . . . . . 101

workers whose fathers and grandfathers were
employed in agriculture who chose skilled
factory worker as the most satisfactory
occupation according to their occupational
background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Percentage of workers scoring low, medium, and
high in the index of satisfaction for the
industrial sector of employment according
to their fathers' and grandfathers' sector
of employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

vi

Table Page

22. Distribution of workers in various skill

levels and types of occupations . . . . . . 112
23. Degree of occupational satisfaction by

skill level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
24. Degree of occupational satisfaction according

to type of occupation . . . . . . . . . . . 115

25. Degree of occupational satisfaction by skill

levels and type of occupation . . . . . . . 116
.26. Occupational satisfaction according to type

of occupation and seniority . . . . . . . . 118
27. Occupational satisfaction according be

occupational training, seniority, and

type of occupation . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

28. WOrkers thinking about changing their present
occupations according to skill levels . . . 123

29. “Makers thinking about changing their present
occupations according to skill level and
type of occupation . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

30. Percentage of workers thinking about changing

their present occupation according to

type of occupation . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
.31. Distribution of workers thinking about changing

their present occupations according to
age, type of occupation, and skill levels . 126

32. Workers thinking about changing their present
occupations by marital status and number

of children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
133. workers planning to change their present

occupations according to skill level

and type of occupation . . . . . . . . . . 128
34. Index of occupational satisfaction according

to skill level and type of occupation in
percentages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

.35. Occupational satisfaction, desire to change
occupation, and index of occupational
satisfaction, according to rural-urban
residence and regional origin . . . . . . . 132

vii

Table

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49H

50.

Degree of job tasks satisfaction by skill
level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Degree of job tasks satisfaction according
to type of occupation . . . . . . .

Degree of job taskSsatisfaction according
to reasons given . . . . . . . . . . .

Reasons given for job tasks satisfaction
according to skill level . . . . .

Reasons given for job tasks satisfaction by
workers in job and trade type occupations

Reasons given for job satisfaction according
to job classification . . . . . . . . . . .

Desire to change job tasks according to
degree of job tasks satisfaction . .

Workers desiring to change their present
job tasks according to skill levels . . . .

Age distribution of workers desiring to
change their present job tasks . . . . . .

Associations between the index of job tasks
satisfaction and some occupational,
personal and social variables . . . .

Satisfaction with work place according to
skill level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Satisfaction with work place according to
type of occupation . . . . . . . . . . .

Percentages of workers satisfied with their
work place according to their skill
level and department . . . . . . . .

Reasons for liking and disliking work place
in percentages . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Workers satisfied with work place according

to occupational background and age of
first employment . . . . . . . . . .

viii

Page

145

146

147

149

151

153

158

158

160

164

171

171

173

175

177

Table Page

51. Degree of satisfaction with workmates

according to amount of technical inter-

action required by the job . . . . . . . . 179
52. Workers' satisfaction with their workmates

according to levels of union involvement . 182
53. Satisfaction with workmates according to

union and political orientation . . . . . . 183
54. WOrker satisfaction and union interest . .... 191
.55. worker satisfaction and union involvement . . . 196
56. Levels of worker satisfaction according to

choices of the most important function

of unions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
57. WCrker satisfaction and union orientation . . . 203
58. WOrker satisfaction and participation in

voluntary associations . . . . . . . . . . 209
59. Wbrker satisfaction and community involvement . 213

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

The conceptual scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Percentage of active population and the
number of employed in the industrial

sector, 1861—1961 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Gross national product of Italy and percentage
contribution of the industrial sector to
gross national product, 1861—1961 . . . . . 25

Population growth of Turin Province and
Commune, 1901-1961 . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Three generations of Turin industrial workers:
their occupational traditions,
experiences, and aspirations . . . . . . . 61

The proliferation of Italian labor movement:
national confederations and their political
alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Percent distribution of workers satisfied with
their present job tasks according to their
age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

LIST OF APPENDICES

Append ix Page
A. SAMPLE DESIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
B . SAMPLE DATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 31

xi

INTRODUCTION

This study was designed to investigate the pattern
(Df satisfactions which the worker in modern industry derives
:from his occupational activity. It represents part of a
llarger research project undertaken by Professor William H.
Ifiorm.to investigate the orientations of automobile workers
‘toward their jobs, their union and their community in the
Intited States and Europe.

The purpose of the larger project was to explore
'the fbllowing basic propositions: "Social relations of
inodern industrial man may be considered in a number of
inidening areas: the job, the interpersonal system at work,
'the union and its related organizations, the neighborhood,
‘the community and the wider society. The social integration
<of modern man in these various areas is allegedly a function
«of the stage of industrial development of a society and
its pace of economic change." It was hypothesized that
Inany subjective phenomena considered in the various areas,
such as the worker's satisfaction, may be accounted for by
larger structural conditions.

The main aims of this dissertation are to investi—
gate the patterns of satisfactions of Italian automobile
*workers and to analyze to what extent their personal and

social characteristics account for the patterns. This

iJTvestigation.is a study in the Sociology of Occupations.
'The research was not designed to ascertain what people
\Nant from their jobs, nor to assess the factors determining
‘the motivation, productivity, and satisfaction of a given
txeam of workers, nor to work out morale items for a job
:satisfaction scale. On the contrary (and despite this

(nonstant emphasis on job activity of most current research

 

cni'worker satisfaction), the main concern of this investi—
qgation.is the occupational activity_of the modern industrial
worker.

Part One of this dissertation will present the
gyeneral framework of the study. In Chapter I, the theoreti-
czal approach to the problem of worker satisfaction will be
(discussed and the conceptual scheme outlined. After a
Ineview of the current theory and research on "Job Satis-

:Eaction,' the need for shifting the emphasis from Job to
(mscupation will be elaborated, and the possibility that the
<degree of industrial maturity of the larger society accounts
for many aspects of occupational and worker satisfaction
\Nill be advanced and discussed. Chapter II will deal with

'the characteristics of the Italian automobile industry,

framing its development in the general trends of the

industrialization process in Italy. A description of the
labor force and trade unionism will be the object of
(Chapter III, where the features of Italy as a developing
country are presented as necessary for understanding the

social and personal characteristics of the workers in our

sample.

Part Two deals with the main subject of the investi—
<gation. According to the frame of reference detailed in Part
(Jne, the analysis of worker satisfaction will be undertaken
\Mithin four main areas: sector of employment, type of
cmccupation, job tasks, and physical and social environments
eat work. Several hypotheses will guide the exploration of
‘bhe main attitudes and feelings which the automobile workers
liave expressed concerning these areas of their occupational
lgife. These hypotheses stem principally from the general
[proposition that attitudes toward industrial work and
:feelings of satisfaction concerning employment, occupation,
jcflo, and work environment must be understood in relation to
‘the degree of industrial maturity of the society, which
chetermines the type and extent of the social and technical
(division of work. Thus in each of the four areas of worker
satisfaction, the analysis will focus on societal aspects
(such as family occupational tradition, occupational sociali—
:zation, socio-personal characteristics, etc ) and on techni—
<:a1 aspects (such as skill and trade, occupational background,
physical and technical conditions at work, etc.).

The Third Part of this study will deal briefly with
those aspects of social life relevant to the occupational
xnorld, and will try to assess their relationship to worker
satisfaction. Chapter VIII will examine the relevance of
*worker satisfaction to union activities, and the ideologi-
cal aspects of union life. Chapter IX finally describes
the bearing of several dimensions of the social environment

outside the factory for worker satisfactions.

PART ONE: THE FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM OF WORKER SATISFACTION

Since the pioneer studies of Hoppock (1924 and 1935),
social scientists have been greatly interested in the
.satisfactions and deprivations derived by the individual
:from his job. Since that time a great deal of investigation
laas focused on applied research problems and on the psycho—
sociological theory of industrial morale and motivation.
'The literature on the subject is endless, and an effort to
srumnarize the main findings would require a larger volume.
jNonetheless, it is necessary to review briefly some of the
salient aspects of current theory and research and their
shortcomings.

(hirrent Theory and Research on
"Job Satisfaction"

 

The common charge levelled for decades against
industrial life has been that the modern worker is deeply
dissatisfied with his occupational activity. Studies by
Blauner, Chinoy, Dubin, Faunce, Form, Hoppock, Hull and
iKolstad, Katz and Kahn, Super, Vitelles, Walker and Guest,
Wyatt and Marriott, Zaleznik and many others have shown

the extent of this worker dissatisfaction and the factors

4

.associated with it. Much of this research effort has
<3ealt with what people want from their jobs: the relative
.standing on different morale items in "job satisfaction"
,scales: the factors determining the motivation, productivity.
.and satisfaction of particular teams of workers: the
extent and the level of group integration and its impact on
Tjob satisfaction": the pattern of relationships among all
'those aspects, and their impact on industrial cooperation
and productivity.

Most of these researches have been more concerned
twith the dimensions of employee morale than with the assess-
tment of the satisfactions and dissatisfactions in the daily
practice of occupational activity. Other studies have been
<7verly concerned with the relation of worker satisfaction
tn: industrial efficiency. The meaning of work in modern
:industry has been appraised mainly with reference to its
impact on work productivity; thus revealing traces of the
ideology typical of traditional Scientific Management.

One of the main criticisms of these approaches to
Wjob satisfaction" phenomena was already made by Kornhauser
in 1944.1

. . . the investigator can understand and inter-
pret the local morale picture only if he is fully

alive to the vastly significant influences which
lie entirely outside the company - social and

1Arthur Kornhauser, ”Psychological Studies of
jEmployee Attitudes," JOurnal of Consulting Psychology, 8
.August, 1944, p. 142.

economic conditions in the community and in the
world at large.

However, up to now very few studies on job satis—
faction have taken into account the social and cultural
setting in which work is performed. A few, including
Zaleznik, Christensen and Roethlisbergerl have enlarged
‘their perspective by including in their prediction framework
some societal factors such as the "social investments status
.factors.” And, Walker and Guest,2 in analyzing the impact
<of mass production characteristics on individual worker
satisfaction, enlarged their scope to discover general
Iorinciples. A few others such as Inkeles "Industrial Man:
iflua Relation of Status to Experience, Perception and Values,"3
zand Form and Geschwender ”Occupational Mobility, Job
Satisfaction and Social Reference"4 have framed the pattern
<of satisfactions of industrial workers into a sociological
scheme.

Another important shortcoming of most approaches
is that the patterns of satisfactions and dissatisfactions

vflnich the industrial worker derives from his worklife have

 

lA. Zaleznik, C. R. Christensen, and F. J.
Roethlisberger, with G. Homans, The Motivation, Productivity,
and Satisfaction of Workers, a Prediction Study (Cambridge,
.Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1958).

2Charles R. Walker and Robert Guest, Man on the
,Assembly Line (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
1952).

 

3American Journal of Sociology, LXVI, 1 (July, 1960),
pp. 1—31.

4American Sociological Review, XXVI (April, 1962),
pp. 228-237.

 

ibeen.focused on the concept "job satisfaction." While this
Iconcept has great utility for studies dealing with specific
jplant activities and managerial efficiency, it appears
inadequate for research concerned with larger societal and
cultural perspectives.

Historically the concept of "job satisfaction" was
intended to include "an over-all liking" of the worker for
lais occupation as well as his job and factors related to
them. Hoppock assumed that satisfaction is a unitary
concept referring to a state of mind and having no reference
‘to‘a.discrete range of work and nonnwork situations. While
‘this conception permitted the consideration of larger
societal factors, it was in fact inadequate for purposes of
'practical research. The concept was used loosely to cover
too wide a range of factors, most of which remained un-
perceived by the investigator. In effect, it made measure-
ment and comparisons difficult and imprecise.

This shortcoming stimulated revisions of the concept
of ”job satisfaction." The new point of view proposed is
that satisfaction could be thought of as comprised of
discrete satisfactions relative to single areas of work
activity and circumstances. Researchers who used this con—
ception usually considered such areas as "intrinsic job
content," ”the economic reward," "supervision," "the
company," "fringe benefits," and the like. Given the main
orientation toward problems of productivity, organizational

efficiency, and other managerial concerns, the areas into

which job satisfaction was broken down were mainly the various
aspects of the local job and plant situation. Again, though
the perspective permitted consideration of extra-plant
factors, the approach was not usually enlarged to include
them.

If our concern is to understand the pattern of
satisfactions and dissatisfactions of the industrial worker
within a particular social context, the concepts we employ

must permit specification of that context.1

Social and Technical Division of Work

The concept "pattern of satisfaction" points to an
important assumption underlying this study; namely, that
worker satisfaction is not an over-all feeling, but a discrete
cluster of attitudes and feelings. As Walker and Guest

have stated:2

Today the multiple nature of job satisfaction or
dissatisfaction -- a principle which has always
recommended itself to the common sense of factory

 

A great deal of conceptual confusion comes from
using the single term "job satisfaction" to designate the
complex pattern of the worker's satisfaction. According
to the Webster's Dictionary, the term "job" refers more to
work tasks than to the over-all work situation. However,
the early researchers introduced the term to refer to this
latter meaning, and they resorted to the qualifications
"intrinsic" (job satisfaction) when they needed to connotate
the first meaning of the term. Their focus made "job" and
"employment" equivalent, but such an equivalence has, in
the opinion of the writer, impaired conceptual clarity in
the theoretical development of the field. It did not, for
instance, favor interest in "occupational satisfaction," and

the rare use of the term clearly points to a forgotten but
important problem.

2Walker and Guest, op. cit., p. 15.

Inanagers -- has now been documented by a very large
:number of scientific studies on employee attitudes.

These authors point out seven major elements which
shcnthfl be included in a picture of the total job situation.l
EfiJmilarly, Zaleznik and associates list six main areas of
ixumiiry.2 Although their choices reflect the latest and
jarObably'the best orientation in the current literature on
tune matter, they are not adequate for the purpose of this
stnuiy. With the exception of the "union area" —— which
iJuzidentally is more a related dimension than a component
caf the occupational activity -- all areas are focused on
t1u3_iob as a position within the organizational structure
cxf the factory, rather than on the worker's activities
vflnich involve both job and occupation.

In this study, societal and cultural factors will
Ina taken into account. Therefore, rather than thinking of
time job as a position within the organizational setting of
a.zilant, we think of work activity within the factory and
time society together. That is, the aspects of the 19p
siinaation have to be combined and taken into account with
time aspects of the occupational situation. In other terms,
{masition in the social system of thegplant should be related

jgggposition in the societal social system. With Durkheim,

 

1These elements are: 1) the worker's immediate job,
2) liis relations to fellow workers, 3) pay and security,
4) liis relation to supervision, 5) general working conditions
le the plant, 6) promotion and transfer, 7) his relation to
the union.

2These areas are: l) the intrinsic characteristics
(1f the worker's job, 2) the extended features of his job,
:3) the supervisor, 4) his associates at work, 5) the company,
6) 'the union.

,

10

we believe that the technical division of work and the
social division of work (and after Hannah Arendt we distin-
guish between "labor" and "work") are two interpenetrating
dimensions which play a decisive role in the gratifications
and deprivations which the worker experiences in industrial
societies.

Our conceptual scheme (see Figure 1) considers
"jo " and "occupation" as two sides of the same coin, namely
the 19;): positi_._op, which can be taken as the basic unit
of both the technical and the social division of work.

The work position within the plant structure is the "job, "
while "occupation" identifies the same position in the
larger society. In addition to the social system's aspects
of work positions, there are technological structures

which account for different types of jobs as well as
occupations. Moreover, different types of "environments"
are _identifiable with work positions, ranging in a continuum
from in-plant to out-of-plant aspects. Physical, social,
and ideological environments are the three types relevant
to our investigation.

On the basis of this conceptual scheme, we can now
isolate the areas in. which worker satisfaction will be
investigated. Relevant to the occupational structure is
the satisfaction for the economic sector of employment,
or more simply "sector satisfaction. " Pertaining to the
"t'eChnbl'ggical structures aré‘gi‘fthe satisfactions derived by

having a certain type of occupation (occupational satisfaction)

11

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12

and a certain specific range of tasks to be performed (job—
UMSRS satisfaction), while physical and social environments
'lel be responsible for the satisfaction with the work
environment.

To summarize, the areas in which worker satisfaction
will be here investigated are:
. Economic sector of employment
. Type of Occupation
. Job Tasks

. Physical environment at work
. Social environment at work

U'IbOJNI-J

We shall now examine how this way of setting up
the main areas of investigation is relevant to the aim of
understanding the pattern of satisfactions of the industrial

worker within a particular social context.

Worker Satisfaction in a Developing_Country

Two out of the five areas of investigation pertain
to the division of work in society. The first, economic
sector of employment, specifies an aspect of the occupational
structure which is of great relevance for any study of worker
satisfaction in a developing country, such as Italy. In
fact, while in more mature industrial societies occupational
movements are in large measure confined to the industrial
sector, in a developing country shifts in agriculture man-
power to the industrial sector and later to the services,
are the most important. Therefore the assessment of the
basic attitudes toward the industrial way of life, as

compared with that in other sectors of employment, becomes

13

the necessary first step of this study. In this area

fandLby occupational traditions reflect patterns of sector
nmfloility, while personal occupational background and
exrmariences reflect responses to the occupational oppor-
turnity structure. These two variables are hypothesized as
hashing a great impact on the feelings of satisfaction with
enmiloyment in the industrial sector (see Table 1).

The second area concerns type of occupation. As
time economy expands, the social division of work in society
is.<:onstantly redefined. Old occupations disappear and
rma» ones arise. Workers who had a pgpgg, within few years
firui themselves having only a 19p. The rapid economic and
imuiustrial changes of Italy in these last decades have
desrupted the occupational classification system. Job
txitles now tend to coincide with occupational types, and
cxncupational apprenticeship has been replaced by training
CH1 the job. Chances of inter-industry mobility are decreased,
nufl<ing the worker dependent on the employment situation
inather than on his skills.1 When confronted by this kind
(1f situation, workers probably react differently according
t1) their patterns of occupational socialization. We feel
tflnat skill level, trade aspects of the occupation, and
cmccupational socialization are the main variables relevant

‘to satisfaction for type of occupation.

 

1This, of course, is limited to the transitory
saituation typical of developing countries, where speciali—
:zation is slowly progressing and unions do not yet have
sufficient power to counterbalance the management's pre-
rogatives.

Q

14

 

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15

The next three areas (job task, physical, and social
environments at work), focus on the in-plant aspects of
worker satisfaction. They are traditional areas of investi—
gation, firmly established in the field. Table 1 details the
corresponding foci of inquiry into these areas. Their
nature and usefulness in the analysis are outlined in the

chapters dealing with these areas (Chapters VI and VII).

41
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CHAPTER II

THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN ITALY

Inkeles has illustrated that aspects of the insti-
tnrtional pattern of modern industrial society induce a
standard set of responses which appear to be cross—societal
auui cross-cultural. However, he recognizes that there are
ailso "countervailing randomizing effects of persisting
igatterns of culture."1 How much these play a role in
shaping the attitudes, opinion and feelings of the Italian
automobile worker will be seen in the second part of this
study.

Despite the similarities of the industrialization
process and of the institutional patterns it evokes, not
all economic developments follow strictly the same ideal
type. HOW different has the Italian economic and industrial
development been from those of other countries is difficult
to determine. Yet we need to briefly examine this develop-
ment over the past century because the type of management,
union life, and occupational market undoubtedly reflect

such a pattern.

 

lAlex Inkeles, "Industrial Man: The Relation of

Status to Experience, Perception, and Values," The American
SEZEEQ§;;of Sociology, LXVI, 1 (July, 1960), p. 1.

 

16

17

The Italian Economic Development

 

When, in March, 1861, Italy finally achieved its

 

territorial and administrative unity, economic conditions

10f the peninsula were chaotic. Fourteen centuries of

gxilitical division left Italy plagued with economic localism,

a unfiltiplicity of monetary systems, no national communica-

tions system, and highly protected regional markets. Gross

.inefficiencies were the legacies of the various governments,

Imostly alien, which had been mainly interested in obtaining

Inaximum.tax revenues at the cost of maintaining an undeveloped

«economic system. Political unification abolished the multi-

plicity of internal customs barriers, but it could not

transform the many local markets into a national one. The
absence of a national railroad network and a unified capital
market largely accounted for the stagnation of the economy

1 in the first decade after the political unification.

The majority of the population was engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits (see Table 2), and industry was still in
its infancy, being mainly in the stage of handicraft and
small workshops. The failure to develop even an industrial

trend has been attributed to the lack of natural resources,

 

/) in particular coal and iron, which nature almost completely
deuuived Italy. However, Italian and foreign economists
liave emphasized a set of concomitant reasons since the
beginning of the organized effort to industrialize.
Already ten years after the unification, a Parliamentary

-in§nairy into the condition of Italian industry summed up

18

 

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19

the main obstacles to the country's industrial growth:
lack of capital, extremely high rate of interest, non—
existence of an entrepreneurial class, insufficient skilled
labor, heavy taxation, high transportation rates, protection-
:umn, and restrictive legislation.1

The lack of capital, due to the small volume of
savings, fOrced the infant industry to look for foreign
:hmvestments, in this way exposing the weak Italian economy
tx: the disturbing fluctuations of the international stock
rmarket. This perhaps more than all other factors accounts
:flor the uneven industrial development.

It is possible to identify several periods of the

Italian industrial growth:

1861-1870 : Period of no progress
1871—1880 : Period of preparation
1881-1890 : Period of light growth2
1891-1900 : Period of consolidation
1901-1910 : Period of intense growth
1911-1920 : Period of stabilization
1921-1940 : Period of moderate progress
1941—1950 : Period of war depression
1951-1960 : Period of rapid expansion

After a decade of no progress, the years 1871-80
represented the period in which the foundations were laid

for the subsequent transformation of the old handicraft

 

I

1A. Scialoja and L. Luzzatti were the main researchers.
See:"Industria" in the Vol. XIX, of the Enciclopedia Italiana,

Rome, 1936.

2A. Gerschenkron divides the period 1881-1913 in
ifiour periods and gives to them a somewhat different connota-
trion, but the interpretation of the economic phenomena is
SIlbstantially the same. See "Notes on the Rate of Industrial
Growth in Italy, 1881-1913," The Journal of Economic Histogy,
XV: 4 (Dec., 1955), pp. 360-375.

 

 

 

 

. - “w..-

 

 

20

industry into a modern manufacture economy. However, only

in the following decade was a real effort made to overcome
the difficulties of mechanizing the productive process.

The demand on the part of the bourgeoisie for small but
immediate profits, together with the constant supply of
cheap labor arising from the ever increasing demographic
'pressures had impaired the mechanization of the Italian
industry up to 1890. Meanwhile, the utilization of the
<electrical power made available by the hydroelectric
resources of the Alps helped overcome the difficulties due
t1) the scarcity of coal and later of oil. The new power
source now permitted the development of heavy industries
though it is worth emphasizing that Italian industry remained
consumer's-goods oriented as late as 1927. The development
of a modest but active metal-making industry sustained the
period of intense economic growth at the turn of the century.
This coincided with the favorable economic climate in all

of Europe. The leading role of the metal-fabrication industry,
followed by the chemicals and engineering, is emphasized

by the comparison of the Index of Output, 1881—1913 elaborated

 

 

 

by Gerschenkron, from which the following data are taken:1

. . Metal— . Engineer— . Food-
‘Years .Mining Making Textiles ing Chemicals stuffs
L1881 71 22 54 62 9 63
.1891 76 72 73 62 28 70
$1900 100 100 100 100 100 100
.1913 98 381 134 272 281 166

 

 

\

102. cit., p. 363.

 

 

21

In 1913, the mechanical engineering industry included
1,534 factories with 211,614 workers, and its expansion
reached a peak with World War I. In 1918 there were in the
country 80 companies working in metallurgy and machine
production, as against 18 in 1913.1 The overall employment
in this industry at that time reached more than half a
twillion workers. However, most of this boom was due to the
imar, and it did not survive the return to a peace economy.
lflua equilibrium between production of goods, wages, and
cuirrency circulation achieved in the decade 1901-10,
subsequently broke down. The resulting social unrest
cnrhninated in the seizure of the metallurgical and engineer-
ing factories by the workers. In the period between 1919-22,
Italy had the largest number of man-days lost through
strikes (21,650 thousandsin 1920 compared with 19,350 thousands
in France, and 11,787 thousands in the U.S.A.)2

As soon as the Italian economy could recover from
the painful post-war period, the world depression of 1930
blocked the expansion of industrial activity. Thus in 1932
the general index of industrial output dropped to 38, as
compared to the 1928 figure of 100. However, the politics

of economic self-sufficiency inaugurated by the fascist

 

1This data and a more detailed account can be found
ill A. Fossati, Lavoro e produzione in Italia dalla metd

(del secolo XVIII alla seconda guerra mondiale, Giapichelli,
Ghlrln, 1950.

2See Neufeld, Italy: School for Awakening Countries

(Itiuaca, N.Y;: N.Y. State School of Industrial and Labor
Relations, 1961), pp. 378 ff.

 

 

 

 

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22

government, although disadvantageous in the long run.
helped reduce the overall effect of the world depression.
Recovery started almost immediately, and the entire period
of 1920-40 witnessed a steady moderate, economic progress.
flflue gross national product (GNP) increased by 2.2% per
year, while the rate of investment rose to an average of 5.9%.
WOrld War II heavily damaged Italy and its economy.
thitional worth was reduced by more than a third, and one-
:fifth of the pre-war factories and industrial plants were
chastroyed or severely damaged. Income decreased to half
that of 1939 and investments became negligible. American
aid and international cooperation helped ameliorate the
desperate situation, and at the beginning of the Fifties,
pre-war figures were already reached. European efforts
for effective economic cooperation (OECE, later OECD:
CECA; ECM) later opened the country to new possibilities and
helped resolve problems which so long had prevented genuine
industrialization. A larger market was now opened, coal
and steel were available without the drags of tariffs, and
foreign capital was being invested less for speculative
purposes and more to secure a constant source of profits.
The new rapid expansion (The GNP has risen at an
aVerage rate of 5.7% per year) reached its peak during the
"Italian miracle" of 1960-63. A period of recession is now
:in effect due to the necessity to establish a stable

Gfiquilibrium between prices, wages, savings and consumption.

MOI‘eover, the unequal rate of regional economic development,

 

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23

despite all the efforts to stimulate investments in the
South, still remains a major handicap of the Italian economy.
However, the development of the Fifties is impressive, not
only in the industrial sector. In fact, Italian economic
expansion of these last years represents a real change of
structure: in 1960, the agriculture sector, growing at a
rate of 3.4% accounted for only 19.2% of the national produce,
while industry constituted a sizeable 48.3% with a rate of
development of 9.1%.

This change of economic structure can be seen in
its centennial perspective, with the help of the graphs
in Figure 2. The comparison between the gross national
product and the percentage contribution to it by the indus-
trial sector (Figure 3) shows the long and laborious road
toward industrialization. Indeed, as has been noted, ”1890
represents the point of universal departure when the pro-
cess of factory production first managed to take hold in
almost totally agrarian and alien surroundings."l Since
then, with the exception of the TWenties, during which period
the politics of autarky stimulated increases in the agri—
cultural sector, the industrial sector has become mainly

responsible for economic expansion.

 

lIbid., p. 123.

2The comparison of this contribution of the industrial
sector to the GNP (Figure 3) with the number employed in
industry (Figure 2) reveals also the main historical trends
in technological innovations and the building of the infra-
structure (mainly in the Nineties and in the Twenties).
The decrease in the gross national product at the end of
the Eighties reflects instead the "black years" of the
Italian economy which coincided with the international
depression of the 1890-92, and accounts in part for the
decrease in industrial manpower.

24

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25

 

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\1

26

Turinégnd the Automobile Industpy

The mechanical industries were, as we have mentioned,
largely responsible for the period of intense growth which
characterized the Italian economy at the turn of the century.
Among them, the automobile industry played a leading role
both in itself and as a strong stimulus to the development
of other metal-making industries. The main center of the
rising industrial activity was Turin, a town with an old
craft and manufacturing tradition, gifted with a thrifty
and entrepreneurial middle class as well as an enlightened
political and administrative elite.

Piedmont, the small state which spearheaded Italy's
unification (Risorgimento), and Turin, its capital, began
industrializing strongly in the 1850-60'decade. At that
time, thefrequent contacts with France and the seasonal
migration of Italian workers across the common borders
stimulated not only the formation of entrepreneurial atti-
tudes among Turin's bourgeoisie but skills among its workers.
The political aspirations of the small state to unify
Italy (realized by the political genius of Cavour, the
Italian counterpart of Bismarck) was thus backed by the
requisites for outstanding economic development.

The small state had in 1848 already aligned itself
with western Europe in four important ways: "foreign trade,
international loans used to develop the economic resources
of the region, the gradual but impressive mechanization of

its industries, and its modern financial institutions."1

 

1Neufeld, op. cit., p. 34.

27

Yet, at that time, Piedmont was mainly agricultural, and
one-fourth of its industry was still operating with handi-
craft methods.l Most of them were textile plants (silk,
wool, and cotton), and a few, mainly in Turin, were metal—
lurgical (arms manufacture), engineering (railroad equipment),
confectionary (a celebrated one), chemicals, clothing, and

a few others. Clothing manufacture was almost entirely
handicraft, having a typical artisan organization, even
though it accounted up to 1898 for the majority of the labor
force of Turin privince.2 The importance of textile manu-
facturing in the Piedmontese economy is evident from data

in Table 3, which also shows the change of economic structure
which the region has undergone in 75 years.

The center of this structural economic change has
been Turin. A town of 4,000 in 1400, three centuries after-
wards it reached 66,851, and doubled its population in a
hundred years, being 121,850 in 1831 when it began plans
to unify Italy. Three decades after, the population grew
to 204,715. This testifies to the rapid economic develop—
ment which took place in Piedmont between 1848 and 1861.
Since then Turin waited for 1951 to witness a similar
expansion (Figure 4), when in ten years it grew from 721,796

to 1,045,544 inhabitants.

 

1Ibid., Appendix E, "Piedmont," p. 568. In 1848
the 63 Piedmontese industrial firms had 220 workshops, 50
of which were operating with handicraft methods.

2IRES, Panorama Economico e Sociale della Provincia
di Torino, Turin, 1959, pp. 26-28.

28

Table 3. Number and percentage of employed workers by
industries,Turin, 1876 and 1951.

 

 

Employed Workers
(in thousands)

 

 

 

Industries
1876 % 1951 %
Textile Industry 60 80.0 112 22.6
(of which silk) ‘ (34) (11)
Mechanical Industry 193 39.0
15 20.0
Others 190 38.4
Total Industrial 75 100.0 495 100.0
Employment

 

Sources: V. Ellena, "La Statistica di alcune industrie
Italiane," Annali di Statistica, XIII, 35, 1880,
for 1876; (these figures are not entirely exact,
leaving out small handicraft workshops; however,
they have been long considered indicative);
Instituto Centrale di Statistica, Dati Preliminari
sulle Ditte, III Censimento Generale dell Industria
e del Commercio, Roma, 1953, Table 7, for 1951.

 

When in 1865 Turin ceased to be the capital of the
newly united country, a large part of its political and
administrative elite moved to the new capital, Florence,
and later Rome. But those who remained were already think-
ing about the community's economic development. Two years
before, a memorandum by Turinese industrialists had summed
up the difficulties to be overcome: high taxation, ever
increasing prices, and lack of power and fuel. Despite
their efforts, these difficulties could not be overcome for
a long period. As soon as electrical power became available
in 1899, Turin's economy, even though experiencing recurrent

depressions, underwent a modest but steady growth. In the

29
Population in

 

 

 

thousands
1,800 ‘*
Province
’ "' " "' Commune
1,500 'r
4| I,
1,000 ,/
/
I
I
I
I
800 (I . ,
I
I
,,/
500 JI ’,/”
300 ‘- ’
1901 1911 1981 1931 1936 1951 1956 1961

Figure 4. Population growth of Turin Province and Commune,
1901-1961.

Source: Based on data in Citta di Torino, Annuario Statistico
1959, Turin 1961, p. 20: Instituto Centrale di
Statistica, Annuariop§patistico Italiano, Rome 1955,
p. 370, 1956, p. 17, and 1961, p. 16.

V‘~“_ i__. 4

 

 

 

30

industrial sector, this growth is shown by the increase of

manpower in metalemechanical manufacturing, as shown in

Table 4 .

Table 4. Number of employed in metal-mechanical manufacturing,
Turin commune and province, 1848-1911.

 

 

 

Years Commune Province FIAT Company
1848 3,754

1860 5,924

1881 10,168

1898 14, 120

1911 29,007 39,283 9,000

 

 

Source: IRES, Panorama Economico e Sociale della Provincia

di Torino, Turin, 1959, pp. 26—29.

The main push in this development was given by the
rising automobile industry during the period 1899-1907.
The Fiat Company was started in 1899 with 50 employees
and substantial capital. Soon other automobile companies
were formed, and in 1904 there were in Turin already 12
firms. Although the new industry attracted entrepreneurial
ac-‘-tivity and capital to other parts of Italy, particularly
Mil an, Turin remained the main center of automobile manu—
fa<=ture. In 1907 there were, in fact, 66 automobile factories
in Italy, 15 of which were in Milan and 20 in Turin. How-
9"er, the rapid development of the new industry was not
built on a sound financial and technological base, and

under the pressures of the 1907-08 international crisis

, .
.nA"
d— ‘ ‘
l‘ -‘v"
r
,
[I
u‘
2" ~
’.ou
u ,,“R
:' ”01"
I
,..r-Afl
.4 rJ

_....vd

~in¢ .‘

.s».~..A

 

 

 

U
p’u
u.,.‘ u.
.
_‘;v . '

" .4.

-
K-v.
I“.

 

‘~
w|‘ ,-
.“

 

'A
. .
a s-
N.

 

.
s .
‘ o

 

 

 

31

many factories closed down. After the crisis the FIAT, the

"Lancia" (established in 1906 and still in operation), the

SPA (which was later merged with FIAT), and the SCAT

remained in Turin.
Turinese automobile industry gave rise to new

aCtivities and supporting industries, such as coach and

Car-body plants, garages, lubricant factories, tire plants,
and many other auto accessories manufacturing plants. As

Professor Fossati notes, "A new industrial structure was

being built up around the motor-car industry, requiring an
eVer increasing volume of labor which was provided largely
bY Turin. In less than forty years Turin was to offer

employment either directly or indirectly to at least half

of its inhabitants." During the rapid expansion due to

World War I, rural migrants from the unproductive surrounding

mountains became the main source of industrial manpower.

After the war this new urban working class became the main

Source of social unrest. As industrial production contracted,

these workers became unemployed and they were unwilling to

return to their poor farms. More than any other Italian

C:i‘tZ-y, Turin became the focal point of strikes and general

p01 itical and social unrest. At that time the Turinese

WCDr‘king class established itself as the avant-garde of the

Ital ian labor movement .
\

 

F 1A. Fossati, "The Fiftieth Anniversary of the FIAT, " in
wL A Fifty Years' Record, Mondadori, 1951, p. 247.

2IRES, op. cit., p. 31.

32

Industrial growth was by no means limited to the
urban center of Turin (the Commune), for it also took
place in the surrounding Province (6,830 sq. Km). There,
Side by side with the traditional textile industry,
mechanical industries were developed and transformed into
large modern enterprises: the Olivetti Typewriter Machine
Company in Ivrea, the RIV (ball bearings) in Villar Perosa,
Chemicals in Settimo Torinese, matches in Moncalieri, and
many other small industries flourished in the main valleys
of the Province. Data in Table 5 provides some indication
of this industrial growth in the Province. It shows,
through the relative standing of the three main economic
Sectors, the ever-increasing industrial character of Turin

economy up to 1961, the year we began our fieldwork.

The craft industry, which has had a long tradition
in Turin deserves special mention because of its growth
along side local heavy industry and automobile manufactur—
irigg. About 50,000 craft workers in Turin Province are
found in 25,000 artisan shops, 20% of which produce
mechanical goods. Another 30%, which employ about 10,000
workers, manufacture clothes. As far back as 1898 they
Constituted the largest economic sector of the Province.
As is clear from the data, the great majority of this
Clothing industry is made up of single artisans working
in the in: own shops. The craft mechanical industry has
an aveIt‘age of two artisans working in each shop. This

f.
lgure is high for Italy which averages 1.57 employees

33

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tflfle 5. Percent distribution of active population by
sector of economic activity in Turin Commune,
Provincial Territory, and total Province,
1936 to 1961.
YEar‘ . Active Population
of District Total
Census Agriculture Industry Services
Commune 2.3 57.2 40.5 330,436
Province 47.5 37.5 15.0 373,046
1936 (Commune not
included)
Province 26.3 46.7 27.0 703,482
(totals)
Commune .7 59.0 40.3 341,926
Province 32.6 50.4 18.0 349,302
1951 (Commune not
included)
Province 16.8 54.7 28.5 691,228
(totals)
Commune .6 61.4 38.0 443,338
1 Province 21.9 59.4 18.7 358,816
961 (Commune not
included)
Province 10.1 60.6 29.3 802,154
(totals)
\

 

IRES, Panorama Economico e Sociale della Provincia
di Torino, Turin, 1959, for 1936 and 1951;

Decimo Censimento della Popolazione, ISTAT,

Rome, 1964, Vbl. 2, for 1961.

SourCes :

 

ll- ulnlillal]

34

Per craft shop. Moreover, the craft industrial structure
0f Turin is less familistic than the rest of Italy (86%
against the national average of 91%), and used more non-
human power (30.6% in Turin province as against 19.21%

for the country) .1

The FIAT Company

FIAT (once a set of initial letters for Fabbrica

Italians Automobili Torino - Italian Automobile Manufacture,

 

Turin, but nowadays a straight trade name) was founded in
July, 1899, on the initiative of a group of Turinese

leaders and aristocrats partly moved by business interests

stimulated by French precedents and partly by their attrac-

tion to the new means of transportation as a sport. The
first workshop occupied an area of two and a half acres
and employed about 50 workers. In a few years.following
the Italian and Turin economic development already
described, FIAT steadily grew and expanded rapidly, parti—
cularly during World War I.

Already in 1906, FIAT stocks were valued at 75
times their original nominal value. One year before, the
Company enlarged its economic scope by creating the §i_a_t;-
% for ship construction, the RIV for ball bearing
manufacture, the Fiat-Ansaldi for metallurgical work, and

becam
e . .
‘3 partner in many auto-related enterprises such as

the I
rid‘ilstrial Coach Builders of Turin (later the Rothschild

 

1
IRES, op. cit., p. 109.

 

‘O

‘I
Q
N

 

 

'u

35

Coach Building Company). In 1907 the Grandi Motori section

of FIAT was launched, devoted to the construction of

diesel engines, particularly marine, and now one of the
world' s largest producers. One year later FIAT created

an Mft Workshop which built, soon after Delagrange's

EXPeriments, a 25 horsepower two-piston aeroplane engine,

and in 1914 a complete aircraft. But the main activity

remained car manufacturing which, in 1912, had an output

of 4,000 cars. This represented) an impressive figure for

Italy at that time, although small when compared with the

Ford' 8 output of 200,000 for the same year.
Fiat arrived at a daily output of 175

However, under

the pressure of war,

cars. After the war, production stabilized at 50 cars a

an improvement over the 15-20 pre-war rate.
the Fiat

day,
In the decade following World War 1.

Company strengthened its economic and productive position

bY absorbing companies which could not survive the post-

war depression. In those years Fiat built its vertical

organiZation by financial concentration and by
°r93nizing the complete manufacturing cycle, which starts

with the production and processing of the raw materials

and ends with the finished product ready to be sold by

Fiat Sales and Service Organization. This vertical
organj-Zation includes iron and steel mills (Fer.r_____iere),

iron and aluminum foundries, forging ShOPSI two metallurgical
and metal—working plants, and the several mechanical

Pmce .
881119 plants manufacturing motor—cars, trucks and

‘

 

36

industrial vehicles, buses and trolley-buses, tractors,

and spare parts. Other plants produce railway rolling

Stock, rail cars, multi-coach motor trains, all types of

freight cars, diesel-electric as well as diesel-hydraulic

locomotives, marine diesel engines ranging between 300

and 30,000 h.p., and training and operational planes

SUCh as the G91T, and the G19, the latter judged the best

and adopted by NATO squadrons in 1962.1

Of Fiat's 20 manufacturing establishments, 14 are

located in Turin. Among them, the largest and the main

Fiat complex is the Mirafiori Plant for the manufacture

of cars. It consists of many workshops,and is divided into

two centers (mainly the assembly lines and the press-

shops) connected by subways. They occupy 420 acres, of

Which 207 are actually covered by buildings. At the time

Of the research, there were about 33,000 employees, of whom

3'000 were office workers. The installation includes some

10'000 machine tools, some of them designed and built by

Flat itself. Production is carried out on a single floor,

i .
n about two dozen departments. The movements of materials

d .

tiring the various phases of manufacture proceed by parallel
li

nes from the raw material stores to the centrally situated
ass . .

embly lines. The total length of subways is seven miles,

and '
that of the internal railway track system is over 14

miles
’ at the end of the

Total Fiat employment in 1962,

 

lFIAT, A Fifty Years' Record, Mondadori, 1951: and

other .
Fl at publications .

‘

 

‘5'

 

 

.
AI

..4 '

,-
.o.'

..y‘
-..o'

 

-

. '1 ‘
.4...
-... .
...,.

 

 

.-.',

 

 

'o.

 

 

 

 

 

 

37

fieldwork, was 112,000 including executives, technicians,
and office personnel. The actual figure for factory
workers was 91,000, of which a third was employed at the

Mirafiori plant. The other plants and workshops of Fiat

 

in Turin are spread around the city.

The Company has a comprehensive social welfare
system which is one of the largest in Italy. A well-
organized Health Service (Mutua), an extended social work
organization, summer camps for workers' children, day
nurseries, and a veteran retirement home are just a few
of the many welfare activities which Fiat provides as
supplements to the national social security and welfare

system. An almost unique institution is the Fiat Central

 

Tiining School "G. Agnelli," located where the first
factory building was situated. It provides technical
training for young people, the prospective highly skilled
Workers on which the company counts for its technological
and economic expansion. Paid apprentices spend their first
Six months in the school preparing for their places in the
VariOUS departments. The main activity of the school is
to train boys 14 to 17 years old in courses which make up
a two Or three year curriculum.
Since 1955 Fiat has allocated large funds to a

Fiat I‘IOusing Plan." The first part of the Plan, now

com
pleted, comprises 3,270 flats in various neighborhoods

in Turi .
11. These apartment houses (independent houses are

gener
ally rare in Italy even for the upper classes) are

 

k

 

 

 

 

38

rented at special rates to Fiat factory and office workers.
This housing constitutes a very important fringe benefit
that Fiat has developed, especially because of the chronic
housing shortage which particularly affects the lower

classes and recent migrants.

 

 

H

(a

 

1
\

CHAPTER III
LABOR FORCE AND TRADE UNIONISM IN ITALY

This chapter describes the social and personal
characteristics of the sample of Turinese automobile
workers whom. we interviewed. These characteristics
reflect the societal and occupational structure of the
country, pictured in the preceding chapter. Different
patterns of intergenerational occupational mobility and
varying occupational backgrounds reflect the periodic
imbalances among the three main economic sectors of the
country. These patterns and backgrounds shape the opinion
(and attitudes of the workers toward the industrial type
0f life. The Italian labor movement, for instance, still
carI‘ies the organizational and ideological features
created by this imbalance in economic and technological
grOWth- A brief description of the Italian labor movement

1
s needed as background for the following chapters.

La -
W Industrial Growth

In outlining the economic development of Italy and
Turin. We haveipresented census and statistical data con-I
earning the active population and how it was distributed
among the three main economic sectors in the several decades

from
the unification of the country up to the year of our

39

k

 

' 1-1

 

 

40

fieldwork. Indeed, the best indicator of the forging of

an industrial and occupational structure is, as Miller

and Form have remarkedl, the relative proportions of the

labor force engaged in agriculture, manufacturing, and

services activities. "The mature industrial economy may

be arbitrarily defined as one in which a third or less of
the labor force is engaged in agriculture and over half
of the urban labor force is engaged in nonmanufacturing

pursuits."2 Table 2 shows that, at least for the first

condition, Italy started to approach industrial maturity
only in the 1951-61 decade. The percentages in industrial

and service employment would increase and that of agricul-

ture would decrease if the data were for the labor force

 

instead of for the active population. In fact, those
looking for their first employment are more likely to

find it in urban manufacturing or services. However, as

has been pointed out earlier, the difference between the

popu-lation in the sectors and in the labor force are not
great. General unemployment was 3.3% in 1960, and the
percentage distribution among the three main sectors was

es
tlmated3 as 17.1% in agriculture, 60.5% in industry, and

24 -
/ in services.

\\

the So 1D. C. Miller and W. H. Form, Industrial Sociology,
Wogy of Work Organization (2d. ed.; New York:

1964), Chapter 3.
‘2Ibid., p. 39.

tatis 3Instituto Centrale di Statistica, Annuario di
Bafifirg-¢isghe del Lavoro e dell Emigrazione, Rome, 1961, p. 84.
the 7‘ can be cast on this percentage distribution as on
However per cent unemployment figure in 1945- 55 period.

for the northern regions and particularly for

 

‘

 

 

 

 

 

 

41

Figure 2 points to 1921 as the year of a real be-

ginning in the shift of the labor force from agriculture

This sector mobility, horizontal

to the industrial sector.
and vertical according to the specific type of occupational
change, became greatly accelerated during the last decade.

Naturally, significant differences are to be found when the

analysis is broken down by geographical region. Here it

is sufficient to mention the economic and industrial cleavage

which divided the northern from the southern regions,

since the unification of the country, the former being

highly developed with large-scale and technologically ad—
vanced modern industry and the latter remaining in a

pre-industrial and pre-capitalistic condition.

Already in 1876 the "industrial triangle" formed by

the three regions of Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria con-

stituted 65.3% of the entire Italian industrial labor force.

Piedmont contributed a substantial 19.7%, having at that

time 24.6 industrial workers out of 1,000 inhabitants,

\

Fiedmont, it is safe to assume an equivalence of population
In the sectors and in the labor force, for the entire period

 

1945—61.
1An extensive illustration is to be found in Neufeld,

SLELJ-L: School for Awakening Countries (Ithaca, N.Y.: N.Y.

ffate SChool of Labor and Industrial Relations, 1961), p. 145

A Study in Economic Development,
1962), suggests that the

 

2V. Lutz, (Italy,

Lo .
ndon: Oxford UniverSity Press,
economy" of Italy is not confined to regional difference,

9V9

evidle though the disparity between North and South is more

econolgt‘ _ This author maintains that the mixture of Italy's
y ls present in the industrial and agricultural sectors

Of no
rth Italy as well.

¥

 

 

42
While Rome had only 5.2 and the deep south a mere 2.4.1
This situation permitted Piedmont to approach the
Accord-

threshold of industrial maturity as early as 1936.
ing to data presented in Table 5, Turin Province steadily and
rapidly progressed toward the typical labor force composi-
tion found in a mature industrial country such as the

United States. The Commune, which represents the urban

center of the Province, in 1936 employed two—fifths of its

labor force in nonmanufacturing pursuits, a figure that

Could be raised a few points if mining, construction, and

 

the production of electricity and gas were included in
Services instead of in industry as it is in Italian
Statistics. In the entire Province about one-quarter
Werteemployed in agriculture at this time and the
figure steadily decreased to a mere 10 per cent in 1961.
The increase of industrial employment and the
Sllight decrease of service employment reflects a phenomenon
of :Lndustrial concentration in the regional territory
COmIPared to Italy as a whole. The comparisons of the labor
for‘oes in the urban center of Turin, its Province, Piedmont,
an(3 all Italy in Table 6 clearly shows the peculiar
indmistrial character (shared by Lombardy and Liguria) of

ulj~£3 region at the beginning of Italy's rapid economic

prc>gress.
l‘p“__

 

A lEllena, "La Statistica di alcune industrie Italiane,"
wi di Statistica, XIII, 35, 1880.

en“ 2United States in 1931 had 45.4% of the labor force
E>loyed in nonmanufacturing pursuits (Neufeld, op. cit.,

T
able 12, p. 527).

¥

 

 

 

 

 

 

43

Table 6. Per cent distribution of active population by
sector of economic activity in Turin Commune,
Turin Province, Piedmont and Italy, 1951.

_~—

‘

Sector of Turin Province

 

Economic Turin (including the

Activity Commune commune) Piedmont Italy
Agriculture 0.7 16.8 32.6 42.2
Manufacturing
and Mining 54.0 48.9 37.7 24.1
Other economic
activities 45.3 34.3 29.7 33.7

Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

‘

Source: IRES, Panorama Economico e Sociale della Provincia

di Torino, Turin, 1959, p. 58.
The massive immigration of 1951-60 depicted in the graph of
Figtue 4, provided labor mainly for the manufacturing
jchflustries, and it counterbalanced the constant rise in
nc>I'lmanufacturing activities in the urban center. This
‘hmnigration did not create major problems of unemployment,
whicfln has steadily decreased since 1947. Although unemploy-
ment was still high in 1959, Turin could offer greater
OpF’Ortunity for sector and occupational mobility during
this period than could Italy as a whole.

The first to take advantage of this opportunity
“EITGE the poor farmers from the surrounding mountains who
Stailrted to migrate to Turin at the turn of the century.
Latleer, under demographic pressure, agriculture laborers
anti small farmers from the lower valleys entered industry,

a . . . .
”(3' as long as the houSing conditions permitted, moved to

g-..

t

 

 

 

44
Turin. However, most of the Turinese workers from rural

areas, particularly after the massive shift from agriculture

to industry which started in 1921-1931, remained as residents

Of their villages and daily commuted to the city. It is
GStimated that more than a third of the present factory

labor force in Turin daily commutes from the surrounding

Provincial territory, which, although rural, is essentially

industrial (cfr. Table 5). During the last years, parti-

 

cularly after 1955, substantial migration from Central and
South Italy was mainly responsible for the population
growth increase of Turin commune and province. These

Inigrants were the main source of industrial unskilled labor.

The Turin Automobile Workers

The preceding chapters pointed out some of the
INirticular characteristics of the Italian economic and
incjustrial development. Whether they are peculiar to the
Itialian situation or generalized features of contemporary
industrial development, they are reflected in the sample
of.automobile workers interviewed. The sample was comprised
of: \Norkers with at least one year seniority in the car
mainlifacturing plant at Fiat Mirafiori in Turin (see Appendix
A ifiNor technical details). The sample was stratified
ac=C=vording to the skill levels in the production, assembly,

arléi experimental departments. (Appendix B presents the

b3 S ic sample data.)

The large majority, seven-tenths of these Italian

autlemobile workers, are unskilled, and about a tenth are

 

 

 

 

45

tlighly skilled. Very few have less than two years seniority,
almost two-fifths have two to four years and one-fifth have
more than 14 years of employment in Fiat. Of course,
Seniority is differentially distributed among the skill
Categories. Among the skilled only 5.9% have less than

four years seniority, and one-half had more than 14 years.
Almost the same percentage holds for the semiskilled
Workers, although about one-fifth have less than four years'
seniority. On the other side, half of the unskilled have
less than four years seniority, and only one-tenth have
been with the company more than 14 years.1 The two character-
iStics of Turin automobile industry, a long tradition and

a recent sudden expansion, are reflected in the large
PrOpmmtions of unskilled workers with low seniority, and

”“3 high proportion of skilled and semiskilled with more
thall 14 years' seniority (respectively 35.2% and 14.5% of
u“? entire sample).

Very few workers are younger than 21 years; more
tharl a third are between 21 and 30 years old, and another
thirri are between 31-40 years. waever, over one-tenth are
Hmréi than fifty years old. Naturally, the younger (under
35) Eire more concentrated among the unskilled, and the

‘fldeal: (over 35) among the skilled and semiskilled.2

.l“\~‘_
Wit lOverall skill level and seniority are associated
11 X2 = 64.578: DF = 4; P<.001; c = .565.

(C 2Age and skill level present a contingency coefficient
CDJTJTected) of .454, with X2 = 44.221; DF = 6; P<.001.

 

 

 

46

Seniority is, of course, positively associated with age,
an intervening variable being the age of first employment.
Data concerning the relationship between age and age of
first employment provide an indication of the changes

in the age of first employment (see Table 7).

Table 7. Percentage of workers by present age and age of
first employment.

 

Present Age

 

 

 

 

Age of first
25 45 Total
employment and less 25-35 36‘45 and more
Less than fourteen 42.5 67.9 62.9 78.7 65.7
Fourteen or more 57.5 32.1 37.1 21.3 34.3
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (40) (140) (62) (61) (303)

 

2 ._
)C = 14.620; DF = 3; p <.005; C = 0294.

Age of first employment is, of course, negatively
Colirelatedl with the level of education (see the sample
distribution in Appendix B). In interpreting this datum,
it’ i_s important to emphasize that among the two—thirds of
those who began working before 14 years of age, about a
terltzh began to work when they were ten years old or less.
SCleDOling opportunities have increased and early employment
neeeessarily decreased with the general progress in economic

deveelopment. Illiteracy is completely absent in the sample,
\

X2 lContingency coefficient (corrected) is .339, with
== 31.507; DF = 3: p (.001.

g

 

47

and this is not amazing. Piedmont has always been the region

With the least percentage of illiteracy: in 1951, against

a national average of 13%, it registered only a 3%, these

located mainly in the rural—farm or mountain areas.

Skill level is not associated with age of first

employment, but it is positively associated with the level

Of’education.2 About two—thirds of the skilled workers had
an education superior to the Grammar school, as compared to
about one-half of the semiskilled and one—third of the un—

Skilled. This association between skill and education is

 

certainly influenced by urban-rural community of birth (and
possibly residence), as data in Table 8 indicate.

Now that some of the personal and social character—
iStfics of the sampled automobile workers have been portrayed,
let us consider their aspects as a new industrial labor
fc>lrce. First of all, the majority (62%) did not begin
tfkair period of work socialization3 in an urban area, and

e‘NEn one-half of those currently residing in Turin began

tKD ‘Nork in smaller communities. Table 9 summarizes these

dalla.

Three-fourths of the automobile workers interviewed

“Mitre married, and 72.8% of the married had children.

 

ii“___
lNeufeld, op. cit., Table 7, p. 523.
X22 2Contingency Coefficient (corrected) is .355, with
= 19.303: DF = 2; p (.001.

j 3Work Socialization refers here to the period of
(>13 training covering the lapse of time from 10 to 20

Years of age.

~

 

48

Table 8. Skill levels of workers by community of birth and
education.

‘1
‘

Skilled and

 

 

 

 

 

Skill levels: Semiskilled Unskilled
Community of birth: Turin Others Turin Others
Grammar School 17.6% 42.6% 42.9% 61.6%
Higher Education \ 82.4 57.4 57.1 38.4
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (34) (54) (35) (172)
Differences give Differences give
Critical Ratio of Critical Ratio of
2.43, hence p (.05 1.72, hence .10(p(.05

 

Tabde 9. Percentage of workers by community of residence,
and size of community of work socialization.

 

 

Community of Residence

 

Size of Community

 

 

of . . . Turin Turin

‘Vork Soc1alization Commune Province Total
\
LesS than 20,000 inhabitants 50.9 90.5 62.0
20'(300 and more inhabitants 49.1 9.5 38.0

Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (216) (84) (300)

-1~‘__
X2

§ 40.155; DF = .1: p (.001; 'c‘ = .538.

 

 

 

 

 

49

However, they were not proletarian in the nineteenth

century's meaning of the term: more than one-fourth of the

married workers did not have any children, half had only

one child, and one-fifth had two children. The remaining

five per cent have three or more children. Obviously

marital status is associated with age, and with the age

of first employment. Those who begin work early tend to
marry early.

Concerning community of birth. almost one—fourth were

born in Turin Commune (the real urban center), another fourth

 

in the Province (rural farm and rural non-farm area3), 16%

in North Italy, and 11.5% in Central and South Italy

Cincluding the Islands). This last percentage seems quite

iflnall in the face of the massive recent southern immigration

iITto Turin. One explanation would be that the southern

b<Dru workers, less prepared to perform mechanized jobs, are
more heavily employed in other industries and in indirect

production such as maintenance, transportation, etc., which

were not included in the present sample design.

 

_~Ԥ__
2 lContingency coefficient (corrected) is .706 with
X = 93.538; DF = 3; p (.001.
.X2 2Contingency coefficient (corrected) is .228, with
= 7.916; DF = 1; p (.005.

r 3It is important to note that in both rural farm and

hL11?a1 non-farm areas farmers and workers live in concentrated

aCDEISing in the typical Italian village, where houses and even

cE3Eirtment buildings are side by side. The Italian farmer, in

t::1?tain regions, has to walk as long as two hours to reach

8 63 land on which he will work during the day. The very
theill size of Piedmontese farms greatly reduces this home-

w . . . .
I1<313< distance, and in recent times mechanization has greatly
the peculiarity of farmers

Leilped the farmer. However,
E3:".‘Lng in semi-urban communities is still outstandingly
eSent.

 

._!!=::;____

 

-

 

 

 

 

50

The majority of the automobile workers, over seven-
tfinths, live in the city of Turin. The remainder daily
cmmmute from the surrounding Province. The largest distance
travelled by some of those interviewed was about 35 miles.
Train and buses were the main means of transportation, and
those who travelled by car comprised only one-eighth of
all the sample. Other figures which help to clarify the
social background of the workers refer to the birth place
of those who are presently residing in Turin: 28% Turin
born, 55% born in the North, and 17% born in the South.

The Turin born residents represent 20% of the total sample.

Some workers, even a substantial part of those who
lived 10-20 years in small communities, have been commuting
to the city where they received their job training. This
commuting work-life cannot be easily assimilated into the
urban-industrial milieu because work values acquired in the
factory environment are "reprocessed" during the train or
Ems journey home. As a matter of fact, about half of those
socialized in a small community have an industrial back-
gnound which reflects the rural-industrial character of
Thrin province. Again, this environment is likely to foster
Values which are not usually associated with the urban-
industrial way of life. A study of such differences calls
for a more specific analysis which goes beyond this investi-
gation. However, wherever possible these variables will

be taken into account.

‘l-fi'

 

 

51

All this reflects the process of industrialization
am of economic development earlier described, which appears
ewen more evident in the occupational background of the
\Kmkers investigated, and of their fathers and grandfathers,

as we shall see in the next section.

Industrial workers of a Developing Country

Together with the advantages of being late, Italy
suffered the disadvantages of an uneven and sudden industrial-
ization.l One disadvantage of inevitable regional dis—
equilibrium was magnified by the introduction of technologi-
cally advanced production processes. From an economic
standpoint, looking at the composition of the labor force,
the country was in 1960 close to the stage of the United
States as a whole in 1910.2 However, among the advanced
industrial islands of the North, Turin was in 1950 more
close to a city such a Buffalo, New York, than to the rest
of Italy. Such geographical differences in degree of
industrialization are by no means limited to Italy, but
13m magnitudes of the differences there surpass those found

in other countries. Italy's past as a fragmented nation

\

1A. Geschenkron, "Notes on the Rate of Industrial
(hbwth in Italy, 1881—1913," The Journal of Economic History,
xV,4 (Dec., 1955), p. 372, suggests, among these disadvan—
tages, the coincidence between rapid industrial growth and
Upward adjustment in the standard of living, which gave rise
tn a constant social unrest.

2C. Clark, The Conditions of Economic Progress (3rd
ed-;ILondon: Macmillan, 1957), p. 520, gives the following
data for U.S. 1910 labor force composition: Agriculture 32.0%,
Industry 32.1% and Services 35.9% (the categories are labelled
and collapsed as in Table 2).

 

 

 

52

amfl the regional variations in industrialization, together
whfln the small size of the country (about 3.3% of the U.S.A.),
gave Italy a real "dual" economy.

In forging its industrial structure, Italy, and
Turin in particular, had to draw manpower almost simul—
taneously from the rural farm, rural non-farm, urban craft
and the urban proletariat sources. Italian craft industry,
even in industrial Turin, did not disappear, and contrary
to what happened in other countries, only recently started
to loose its labor to industrial manufacturing.1 In
countries which achieved their industrial maturity early in
the century, rural farm workers entered industry later than
urban laborers and craftsmen, while in Turin province, they
were among the very first to become industrial workers.

In the sample investigated, these features are
traceable in the distribution of the workers' paternal
grandfather's and father's major occupations, as shown in
Table 10. Only a handful of those who are now industrial
Workers had their grandfather in industry. In fact, two-
‘Uflrds of the grandfathers were farmers, almost one—tenth
Mere service workers, and only 6% were industrial workers.
Three—quarters of the sons of these industrial grandfathers
remained in industry, while the others shifted to agriculture,
Craft, and services. The latter's sons went into industry

in a greater proportion than sons of farmers or craftsmen.

\

lIbid., p0 5030

 

53

 

 

 

 

 

. . ”I
man. u m.“Hoo.v a “m n ma “mma.oma u «x
io.ooav Am.nav im.aav Am.pv Ao.moc Axe
Rummy Anew Ammo ions inane izv
o.ooH o.ooa o.ooa o.ooa o.OOH apnea
p.om m.ao m.mH m.o m.HH anamummno
N.om N.mm n.aa m.p n.mn nmxnos 00H>nmm
p.mm m.m o.Hm o.mn m.ma nmxno3 Hmnnumsch
xp.pm na.a xm.m am.ma am.mm nmnonma
Enmm Ho Hwfiumm
wauoz wauoz Hmuonmq Enmm
Hmuoe cmamummnu mmoa>nwm Hmauumsch Ho Hmfinmm coaummsooo
. . HOHmE
.mnwsnmm

coflummsooo Honmz .mnwnummocmnw Hmcumumm

.

 

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no.3: .3 033

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54

Ibwever, the majority of sons inherited their father's
cmcupational activity,l although it is likely that within
these main occupational sectors of employment some job and
occupational mobility had occurred. The generational
occupational holding power was greater for industrial
workers (three—fourths), than for craftsmen (two—thirds),
and farmers and service workers had the least (one—half).
One-fifth of the sons of the craftsmen tried new
occupations probably in commercial activities related to
their fathers' craft, and very few (8.9%) entered industrial
employment.2 On the other side, One-third of sons of
service workers entered industry, a fact that fits the

peculiar Italian development where the services sector did

‘

1See Table 11. In general, and almost anywhere
(cfr. S. Nosow and W. H. Form, Man, Work and Sociepy (New
York: Basic Books, 1962), Chapter X: "Occupational
.Mflfllity," pp. 333—72) sons are more likely to enter into
the occupational level of their fathers than into any other.
A.fortiori, this likelihood is greater when only the same
Inanch of economic or major occupational activity is con-
cerned. In addition, as Chessa has already remarked in an
empirical study undertaken in Rome in 1908 (La Trasmissione
Emeditaria delle Professioni, Bocca, Torino, 1921), Italy
Was at that time a society of great hereditary stratification.
Colin Clark maintains that this proposition was true for
l949-and 1954 also (op. cit., p. 554), and S. M. Lipset
and R. Bendix (Social Mobility in Industrial Society
(Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1962),
Fm. 27-33) illustrate this point.

2If all industrial workers for whom the grandfather's
ItBjor occupation is not known, by a very unlikely chance,
“buld be sons of craftsmen, this low 8.9% would not be
raised to a figure higher than that pertaining to sons of
Service workers. This backs the proposition early posed
as a conservative hypothesis that urban workers, craftsmen,
and rural workers entered in industry "almost at the same
time." However, other data support, as we shall see, the
hYpothesis that agricultural workers were the first to
enter industry and craftsmen the last.

 

 

55

 

man. u o “Hoo.v a n

ma H mm Nomm.mm n N

 

 

 

 

 

 

.I N
io.ooav io.amv Ao.omv Am.amv ia.amv Axe
Atoms Amos inns Ammo AHOHV sz
o.ooa o.ooa o.ooa o.ooH o.ooa mamuoa
m.m m.HH m.HH ©.m m.oH pcsoumxumm
HMGOaummsouo pmxfiz
o.mm o.m¢ n.va ¢.~H m.om cmamummuo
H.HH m.¢ ¢.@H n.0H m.b meuoz mofl>umm
m.mm H.hm m.om m.mo m.wa umxuoz HmfluumSUCH
Xm.ha $m.¢ $0.0 Xm.m $©.H¢ Hmuonmq
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umxuoz mehoz Hmuonmq Eumm
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mmoa>umm amanumsch Ho emanmm Hmcoaummsooo
. . ._ u .maom
coaummsouo abnmz .mumnumm
.UCSOHmXUmQ HMGOHUMQSUUO .mcom an GOHUMQDUUO HOhmE .mhmnumh .HH mHQmB

56

increase at the usual pace shown by countries which had
industrialized earlier.1
The distribution of fathers in industrial employment

according to the major occupation of grandfathers is as

 

follows:

Farmer or farm laborer 45.8%

Industrial worker 16.7

Services worker 12.5

Craftsman 5.5

No information 19.5
100.0%
(72)

It seems that the industrial generation previous to
the ones investigated was largely composed of sons of
farmers or farm laborers. In fact, regardless of how the
"no information" might be distributed, the farmers' sons
were almost half of the total. Thus, it seems safe also
to assume that the possible distribution of the "no
infonnation" group would not greatly affect the relative
standing of the major occupational categories. Granting
the assumption then craftsmen entered industry later than
rural farm and urban services workers.

These observations are supported by the type of

Italian development during the period of work socialization

¥

1In the United States, the percentage of labor force
in the services sector of economic activity has always been
Iligher than the percentage in the industrial sector, since
1850 (cfr. a clear summary of several countries in G.
ETiedmann and P. Naville, Traité de Sociologie du Travail,
COlin, Paris, 1961, “Tableau 6-3" p. 220 of lst VOlume).
Ebwever, P. Bauer and B. Yamey ("Economic Progress and Occu—
Eational Distribution," Economics Journal, 61, 1951, pp. 741—
55) criticize the use of the percentage of population involved
ln services activities by itself as an index of the stage of
(me economic development, on the basis that people may be
Simultaneously involved in various levels of production.

 

 

57

of the grandfathers' and fathers' generation. The grand-
fathers of workers who are now 20-35 years old were likely
in the work socialization process around 1885-1910, while
the grandfathers of those who are older than 35 were in the
same process in 1860-1890. If we consider the economic
development (as depicted in Figure 2) the low percentage of
industrial workers among grandfathers is understandable.
Furthermore, the fathers' generation should have been

work socialized for those sons now younger than 35, between

1915—1930; and for those sons now older than 35, in the

 

1885—1915 period.1 This fits fairly well with the increased i H
percentage of industrial workers among the second generation
and with the two periods of intense growth and moderate
progress of the Italian economy mentioned in the preceding
chapters.

Grandsons, that is the industrial workers here
investigated, now older than 35, are likely to have re-
ceived their job training (work socialization), during the
years 1910-40 and those now younger than 35 during the
1945-55 period. Their occupational backgrounds are revealing,
for they reflect the changes which occurred in the labor
force with the coming of the new generations of industrial

Workers, as the following distribution clearly shows:

 

‘

1In calculating these average periods, some modifi-
cations have been introduced to take into account disturbing
Phenomena such as wars, which could have delayed the age of
first employment or reduced the period of job training.

 

.. b
v
M. ,‘

'7
.

1.

‘I9-
I t-
~~,..

 

 

 

Al‘-

I"

 

' s
.

58

 

Farmer or farm laborer 17.3%
Industrial worker 39.6
Services worker 11.2
Craftsman 22.1
Mixed occupational background 9.8
100.0%
(306)

Among the four—tenths from an industrial occupational back-
ground, almost one-tenth have been in their present employ—
ment since they began working.

Craft background is for the present generation the
major source of industrial recruitment. Thus, more than
one-fifth of the sample tried a craft occupation before they
accepted industrial employment.l Almost another fifth
worked in agriculture for most of the time prior to becoming
an automobile worker. Those who left service activities
constitute the smallest group, with the exception of those
who tried various employments but ended in industry.
Representative or not of the Turin industrial labor force
(although the economic framework would suggest it is), the
above percentage distribution probably gives a repre-
sentative View of the occupational background of Turin
automobile workers.

"Fathers' occupation" suggests the kind of occupation-
a1 tradition and values to which workers in our sample have

been exposed. The percentage distribution by their own

x.

lCraft, as here defined to be distinguished from a
trade or craft activity in industrial manufacturing, implies
Self—employment (in Italian statistical taxonomy: lavoratore
in proprio) even though this does not necessarily involve
the actual ownership of the workshop.

 

 

 

. F'

 

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-
.uo-"

...a .

-ovN

. AR
.x-

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ppvfl

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59

occupational background and by their father's major occu-
pation is presented in Table 11. A striking feature is that,
while occupational inheritance still holds for sons of
farmers and industrial workers, the sons of services workers
and of craftsmen did not follow their fathers' footsteps.l
Of course, regardless of the father's occupation, all these
workers were being employed in industry, yet the majority of
farmers' sons first entered farming before becoming industrial
workers, but half of the sons of service workers entered
industrial employment directly. It is also significant to
note that more than one—third of those born in an artisan
family did not enter their fathers' craft, but entered
industrial employment directly.

The bottom row of Table 11 provides the distribution
of the total sample according to their fathers' occupation.
The largest group (one-third) had fathers in agriculture,
one-fourth were sons of fathers in industry, one—fifth were
sons of craftsmen, and an equal proportion sons of service
workers. Thus three-fourths of these industrial workers

were not born in an industrial worker's family.2 Only six

 

1However, the association between father's occupation
and son's occupational background is quite high: '0 is .595,
with XZ's p (.001.

2In France as a whole, industrial workers born into
a rural—farm family represent one—quarter of all industrial
workers, while in the U.S. they are a mere 5% of the total
urban labor force. On the other side, industrial workers who
are born into an industrial worker's family comprise one—half
of all industrial workers in France and two—thirds of all
those in the U.S. However, this comparison is only indica-
tive, because they refer to France as a whole (G. Friedman
and P. Naville, op. cit., Tableau 5—1, p. 178 of Vol. One),
and to U.S. urban labor force (8. Nosow and W. H. Form,
op. cit., Table l in p. 338).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘10.!

'-
VI~( .y.

'7'»;-
~I.‘
O

hcfi.

‘4'.
A“.

60

out of one hundred were grandsons of an industrial worker,
and two-thirds had grandfathers who worked in agriculture.
Only one-fifth are sons of industrial workers, and two-
fifths had fathers working either in the services or a
craft industry (see the synthesis presented in Figure 5).
More than half of our sample tried other occupations before
entering industrial employment, and three-tenths had already
contemplated leaving industry for the crafts or services.

Representing an heterogeneity of traditions and experiences,

they are really industrial workers of a ”developing country."1

which since its unification in 1860 is trying to make its
way toward an industrial society. we shall try to assess
the main attitudes of these workers toward their work in
such a society and their feeling of occupational and work

satisfaction.

Italian Trgde Unionism

It is a well established generalization that a labor
movement is a response to its social and cultural environment,
the type of economy, the rate of economic development, and
the characters of its leadership. Accordingly, it is dif-

ficult, if not impossible, to understand the Italian labor

 

1The expression ?developing country? is here under—
stood in its genuine economic sense, and not as used in the
political and popular literature to mean an Vunderdeveloped”
country. An average annual increase of Gross National
Product of at leaSt 2.0% is, in the opinion of the writer,
the minimum requirement for a country to deserve to be
called ”developing.9 (Italy's average annual increase
was .7% in the 1861-97 period, 2.3%»in the period 1897-
1939, and 5.7% from 1950 to 1960.)

 

 

 

7:9 - .n. _ A.<~_.—.

61

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Craft &
Agriculture Industry Services
1860 Grandfathers 65 6 29
1885 Fathers 34 13 5 5 23
z /
O
H
E-'
H
1915 g 35 23 42
B \ /
1930 Sons 14 10\\‘ 17 ‘//23 15
m
1955 g 17 ——> 100 ‘—_—' 33
E,“
/ \
/
a; , \
/ \
1961 // \
Z \
,9, i x
B r“‘1 F"“3
a I I : :
l
196? H i 1 , '30 I
m , n , u
U) I I L_____!'
m ——————

Figure 5. Three generations of Turin industrial workers:
their occupational traditions, experiences, and
aspirations.

Note: Numbers are individuals out of one hundred. Sons of

mixed occupational background have been grouped with
those of industrial background. The chart traces

only movements from agriculture and crafts to industry
and movement within each sector. Thus, for example,
movement from agriculture to crafts are omitted.

62

movement without considering these factors.
Three aspects of the Italian trade unionism may be
isolated: 1) political alignment, 2) ideological orientation,

and 3) intellectual leadership. These three closely related

 

characteristics are a direct consequence of the ideological,
political and economic revolutions which swept Europe after
the Congress of Vienna. The Italian correlate of these
revolutions has been called "11 Risorgimento."

While a review of the history of the Italian labor
movement is beyond the scope of this section,1 it is necessary
to mention some of its peculiarities in order to account for
its contemporary main characteristics. The French Revolution,
and the brief but decisive French domination which followed,
brought to Italy ideals of political freedom, desires for
national unity, and formulas of the new economic liberalism.
Most of the old guilds and artisan brotherhoods organized
as corporazioni had already been dissolved as illegal by
the Italian states before the Napoleonic period, and those
which did survive did not last after 1821, when the last
remaining guilds were dissolved by the Bourbon government in

Naples.

 

1The reader may refer to the following authors:
Maurice F. Neufeld, Italy: School for Awakening Countries
(Ithaca, N.Y.: New York School of Industrial and Labor
Relations, Cornell University, 1961); Joseph La Palombara,
The Italian Labor Movement: Problems and Prospects (Ithaca,
N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1957); Daniel L. Horowitz,
The Italian Labor Movement (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1963). All of them contain exhaustive
references to the Italian literature on the subject.

 

63

One direct consequence of the early abolition of the
guilds was the lack of continuity between artisan institutions
and industrial trade unions, which, because of the slow pace
of Italian industrialization, appeared only toward the end
of the century. This lack of continuity meant that the
traditions and leadership of the pre-industrial workers
associations had little affect on the subsequent industrial
labor movement.

The beginning of Italian trade unionism can be
traced to the only kind of workers' associations which was
permitted by the governments: the so-called "mutual-aid"
society (Societa di Mutuo Socorso). Their impact can be
dated from the middle of the nineteenth century, when these
scattered associations met in Turin for their first national
congress.l Their concerns were mainly in the fields of
welfare and philanthropy. Even though they were organizing
"workers' societies," their top officials were drawn from

the middle and upper classes of intellectuals.2

 

1Because of the advanced level of industrialization
which characterized Piedmont with respect to the rest of
Italy, Turin was at the avant-garde of this movement, and
its pre-eminent role in Italian trade unionism has been felt
up to the present time. Before 1860, two-thirds of workers'
societies were located in Piedmont.

2Very often, this non-working-class leadership was
a prerequisite for governmental permission to associate and
for its benevolent attitude. See Alfredo Gradilone, Storia
del Sindacalismo, Giuffre, Milano, 1959, v. 3, pt. 1,
pp. 59—60; and Horowitz, op. cit., pp. 13-14.

 

.p.

 

 
 

 

 

nu.

-c

_h

v
‘ 1

I:-

'\

Q.

 

64

When Giuseppe Mazzini, the intellectual leader of
the fight for freedom and Italian unity, gained control over
the mutual-aid societies, their leaders remained substantially
unchallenged, for they supported Mazzini's philosophy of
class collaboration. Moreover Mazzini's influence over the
nascent labor movement oriented it toward political action
and goals, because he regarded this as more important than
any other concern of the workers.

A few years later, Mikhail Bakunin, the revolu—
tionary socialist who rivaled Marx within the International
Workmens' Association, came to Italy and skillfully dis-
placed Mazzini as the moral leader of the workers' societies
movement. The fight between Mazzini and Bakunin involved
ideological controversies which were phrased in very
simple terms to appeal to the almost illiterate workers.
Bakunin eventually won, probably because his revolutionary
anarchic socialism was phrased in such "black-and-white
terms" that it had strong appeal to the working class.1

In order to obtain leaders for his movement, Bakunin
relied heavily on middle-class intellectuals, professionals,

and most of all on young adventurous individuals.2 From

 

le. Seymour M. Lipset, "Democracy and Working-
Class Authoritarianism," American Sociological Review, 24,
4 (August, 1959), pp. 482—501. See also, Nello Rosselli,
Mazzini e Bakounin: 12 anni di movimento operaio in Italia,
(1860-1872), Bocca, Turin, 1927.

2This made Marx say that they were ". . . lawyers
without clients, physicians without patients and qualifi-
cations, students devoted to billiards, . . ." quoted in
Horowitz, op. cit., p. 23.

 

.V._
.‘i'.-

 

 

 

 

 

 

o-.. >..

." _-.
I... 5‘:
Ln. '-
~_.‘ fl
n.‘

 

‘o

 

 

 

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,

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..‘..’

. A
h.
.._.‘

 

 

 

65

1869 until 1877, when the government violently suppressed
the Bakunin anarchist movement, this young energetic intel-
lectual leadership played the most influential role in
shaping the ideological and revolutionary character of

the painfully developed Italian labor movement.

To sum up, all the pre—Marxist labor movements were
characterized by l) a leadership often drawn from the
middle-class intellectuals (a common feature of the mutual-
aid societies, Mazzini's movement, and the anarchist group),
2) a concern for direct political action (introduced by
Mazzini and reinforced by the revolutionary preachings of
Bakunin), and 3) a heavy emphasis on ideological problems
and positions (a general feature of this historical era
which was concerned with the basic issue of how the new
nation should be structured).

The expansion of the industrial sector of the
Italian economy during 1871-80 (see Figure 2), spawned a
large mass of industrial workers on the political and
social scene. This new labor force was less patient and
more aggressive than its forebears and it provoked a series
of repressive acts on the part of the government. The
situation transformed the workers' societies into leagues
cf resistance (Lege di Resistenza Operaia), and gave

(firth to a sort of "worker exclusivism." The most
fimwdiate consequence was the intensification of under-
gnmnd political action and the spread of the class-struggle

philosophy. As soon as the repressive action abated, a

_.~\~.

 

66

(kaers' Party (Partito Operaio) was created.

 

From this point on, the seizure of governmental power
by democratic or revolutionary means became the main hope of
the worker to emancipate himself and to obtain adequate
wages and better working conditions. The use of political
and governmental power by the Italian managerial class
forced the labor movement also to chose direct political
action as its main strategy. Marxist socialism, so con-
cerned with total social and political changes, found a
fertile ground in these conditions. Within a few years,
the socialist movement infiltrated the Workers' Party,

and when the Socialist Party (Partito Socialista Italiano)

 

was created in 1895, the Workers' Party passed almost in-
advertently in the Socialist Party.1

Marxist socialism was not only responsible for
completely politicizing the labor movement, it also con-
solidated its ideological orientation and the tradition of

drawing leadership from intellectuals.2 The relationships

 

lRoberto Michels, Storia critica del movimento
socialista italiano dagli inizi fin a1 1911, La Voce,
Florence, 1926, p. 96.

2Although the working-class exclusivism of the
Worker Party rejected the leadership of the middle-class,
it was attracted to intellectual leadership. The new
party program underscored the necessity of studying and
dealing with all questions concerning the worker's life,
and this necessity became the open door for the socialist
infiltration. The Circolo di Studi Sociali, founded by the
Workers' Party with the collaboration of the socialist move—
ment lead by Turati, was one of the main instruments in
preparing for the absorption of the Workers' Party in the
Socialist Party.

 

 

67

between the bourgeoisie and proletariat in the Italian
socialist movement have been clearly analyzed by Roberto
Michels, who discerned all the sociological implications
of the peculiarities shown in the Italian situation.1
The fact was that socialism greatly appealed to Italian
intellectuals, and they interpreted it to the masses. The
latter had faith that their leaders would win the political
and social struggles, and docilely abandoned their fight
for better working conditions and wages in the hope that a
future revolution would radically change their situation.
The Marxist conception of unionism as the economic
branch of the political party necessarily influenced all
other labor movements. Worried about the anti-religious
and class doctrines spread by the socialist labor movement,
the Catholic Church promoted its own labor movement.
Forged almost from the top down, the movement became strictly

aligned with the Catholic Party (Partito ngolare).

 

Meanwhile, following the example of the French

bourses de travail, the first Chamber of Labor (Camera del

 

Lavoro) was created in Milan in 1890. Parallel to the

Chambers of Commerce, the Chambers of Labor represented an
attempt to free the labor movement from political concerns.
One of their main functions was to act as a clearing-house
on the local level for all kinds of workers organizations.

However, the fact that they rose along side the socialist

lRoberto Michels, Il_proletariato e la borghesia
nel movimento socialista Italiano, Bocca, Turin, 1908.

 

68

movement, and that a high proportion of their officials
were dedicated to socialism identified the Chambers with
the socialist labor movement. Even so, the Chambers of
Labor became the units of the future national trade union
movement. A national organization was formed at the turn
of the century which brought the local chambers together
into a national secretariat. A few years later, in 1906,
chambers of labor, non-Catholic unions, and leagues of
resistance converged into the General Confederation of
Labor (Confederazione Generale del Lavoro), which despite
its dissents and schisms, can be regarded as the mainstream
of the Italian labor movement.

After the long interval of the Fascist dictatorship
and World War II, under the auspices of the Allied Military
Government, the Italian labor movement was organized from
the top down into an unified Confederazione Generale Italiana

del Lavoro, whose leadership was drawn from communist,

 

socialist and Catholic labor movements. Although this

violated the apolitical principle of united trade unionism,

 

1Apart from few independent trade unions, mainly in
craft occupations, the other main labor organization was
the Italian Confederation of Workers (Confederazione
Italiana del Lavoratori), which was the national Catholic
organization. In 1920, its membership was about 1,250,000
but 80% of them were in agriculture, and only 25% were
wage earners. In the same year, the socialist ppp had a
membership almost twice that of plp. See Horowitz,

op. cit., p. 125.

2John C. Adams, "Italy," in Walter Galenson (ed.),
Comparative Labor Movements (New York: Prentice—Hall,
1952), p. 442.

 

69

it is difficult to conceive where, in the highly ideological
and politicized Italian labor environment, one could find
apolitical leaders.

Labor unity was hailed by all labor leaders as an
outstanding achievement. Its life was brief. The first
signs of conflicts were evident as early as 1946 when
Communists and Christian Democrats adopted different views
on wage policy. While the former wanted indiscriminate
increases, the latter cautioned against the dangers of an
inflation. Following their traditional conception of
trade unions as party instruments in the fight against
bourgeois government, Communist officials tried to use
the Confederation as a means to foster social unrest and
create conditions for a political take-over of the unstable
government.

The skillfulness and dedication of the Communists
and Socialists permitted them to become within a few years
the power node of the Confederation. In 1947, the Director-
ate was composed of 38 Communists, l9 Socialists, 11 Christian
Democrats, and 7 members of various other parties. One
year later, under the pressures of the international cold
war and the disillusion of the Communists who lost the national
elections, the Christian Democratic officials decided to
leave the Confederation. This was occasioned by a violent

and political general strike which followed the attempted

 

lGradilone, op. cit., pt. 2, p. 287.

7O

assassination of Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Communist
Party.

Within a few months the Free Italian General
Confederation of Workers (Libra Confederazione Generale

Italiana dei Lavoratori), patronized by the Church lay organi—

 

zation (Azione Cattolica), was founded. Later, in 1947,

 

the Social—Democratic and Republican officials declared

that labor unity had been destroyed by Communist partiality,
and they too left the Confederation. They also formed a
labor organization (Federazione Italiana del Lavoro) which
was of short duration. One year later, some of these workers
joined the Catholic organization, renamed on the occasion
Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori (CISL), and

the others formed the Unione Italiana del Lavoro (UIL).

 

During the same period, the neo-fascist movement created
its own labor organization (CISNAL).

After this period of dissent, dramatic changes,
and reorganizations (see Figure 6 for a synthesized view),
a period of stability ensued which has endured to the present.
The recovery of the economy and the industrial development
not only increased the labor force, but called for the
resolution of routine wages and hours problems and less
political action. Obliged to accept "capitalistic"
society at least for the moment, even the Communist-
controlled union renounced open political action, and re-
verted its attention to the workers' daily problems. Yet,

ideological orientations remain an essential feature of

 

"a.

”J.

 

71

1944 C.G.I.L
Communists, Socialists
Catholics, Republicans

/ \

1948 C.G.I.L. L.C.G.I.L
Communists, Socialists Catholics
Republicans, Social-Democrats

 

 

 

 

 

1949 F.I.L.

1950 C.G.I.L. U.I.L. C.I.S.L. C.I.S.N.A.L.
Communists Republicans Catholics Neo—Fascists
Socialists Social-Democrats Republicans

Social—Democrats
EStl’ 2,500,000 300,000 1,800,000 200,000
mated
Member-
ship

Figure 6. The proliferation of Italian labor movement:
national union confederations and their political
alighment.

 

 

-4-1 r "

a. V

C
,co‘; ‘

nu-

.—
anuv‘

ya-

.—

-0. my.
-- ~
u A

.l'-

.—
_...
.. a
4,. 5
;\“‘

 

I; “’v

-‘~

 

 

 

 

u .
‘ ‘
l l
i
‘;
<~~ A
u
, U
i
,.

 

 

72

Italian trade unionism,l along with political alignments,
and intellectual leadership.3

Although the Communist—controlled CGIL admittedly
has lost one million members during these last years, it
still remains the strongest and best-organized union. It
claims a membership of 3,500,000, although it probably is
no more than 2,500,000. CISL, the Catholic controlled
union, claims a membership of 2,300,000, while the UIL,
the Social-Democrat union claims about 1,000,000. Realistic
estimates assign CISL a membership of less than 2,000,000,
and UIL about 300,000.4

These figures indicate the low level of union
interest in the Italian labor force (about 20 millions,
see Table 2). In fact, Italian workers are not under any
circumstances obliged to join a union. Compulsory unionism,

under any of its multiple forms, is completely foreign to

the Italian scene. The presence of several unions within

 

1In the sense that value-positions still define
the limits of political flexibility, although the value-
position itself can in time undergo changes.

2Overlapping of union offices and parliamentary
responsibilities (as congressmen or senators of various
parties) is a frequent character of the national leadership
of all unions. See Joseph La Palombara, "The Political
Role of Organized Labor in Western Europe," Journal of
Politics, V01. 17 (February, 1955), pp. 71-76.

3Cf. Joseph A. Raffaele, Labor Leadershipyin Italy
and Denmark (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press,
1962), pp. 114-118.

4
p. 109.

 

 

 

La Palombara, Italian Labor Movement, 92. cit.,

73

the same plant, factory, and company represents a further
limit on the monopoly of union affiliation. Moreover,
union identification tends to represent an emotional or
ideal tie. The ordinary worker is not a member of a union,
he seldom goes to local meetings, he rarely pays his dues,
and he usually does not care to inform himself about his
union and its policies. However, regardless of ideological
shifts and changes in politics, he very seldom withdraws
his support and continues to vote for his union and its
officials.1

We shall see later on how much this background helps
us understand the Turinese automobile workers. Meanwhile,
let us briefly describe the plant organization at the

research site.

Plant Union Organization at FIAT

The three main trade union confederations have very
similar organizational structures. There are two dimensions

of organization: the vertical which brings into a pyramidal

 

structure all the industrial unions affiliated with the
confederation, and the horizontal which coordinates the
activities of the locals at the provincial level. The

main unit of the vertical organization is the pgovincial

federation which organizes all unionized workers in given

 

occupations or within a particular industry.2 The main

 

1For an explanation of this sort of behavior, see
Lipset, op. cit., p. 495.

2Union locals are very rare and without any effective
power.

 

74

unit of the horizontal organization is the chamber of labor,
which coordinates the activities of all provincial federa—
tions.l Union locals at the factory or plant levels are
practically nonexistent, although in 1955 CISL introduced
them in its statutory chart.

The automobile worker who wants to join a union
must address himself to one of the metal-worker local
federations. Through his membership he becomes affiliated
with one of the chambers of labor and simultaneously with
one of the national confederations.

As there are three main national confederations,
differentiated by their ideological orientations, there are
also three main metal—workers federations:2 F.I.O.M.
(Federazione Impiegati e Qperai Metalmeccanici) affiliated
with the C.G.I.L.; F.I.M. (Federazione Italiana Metal-

meccanici) affiliated with the C.I.S.L.; and U.I.L.M.

 

(Unione Italiana Lavoratori Metallurgici) affiliated with
U.I.L.

The Turinese automobile worker has the additional
possibility of belonging to the Italian Automobile Union
(Sindacato Italiano dell'Automobile, S.I.D.A.);3which

resulted from a split within the Catholic union. This union

 

1The chamber of labor is usually at the provincial
level, although in few rare cases it exists at the district
or municipal level.

2The fourth confederation, C.I.S.N.A.L., promoted
by the neo—fascist has too little power and following to
be considered here.

3Formerly called Free Democratic Workers (Liberi
Lavoratori Democratici, L.L.D.).

1

Ilr

 

75

is not connected with any national confederation. However,
in order to avoid criticism of narrow localism, S.I.D.A.

is affiliated with the International Catholic Union
Confederation, a body to which C.I.S.L., the union officially
patronized by the Catholic Church, does not belong.

Because union locals are lacking, the crucial labor
body in the Italian factory is the Internal Commission
(Commissione Interna). Its main function is to settle
grievances arising from the application of collective

contracts (which they are not supposed to bargain),1

to settle collective and individual quarrels with management,
or to monitor rules set by the management.

The Internal Commission is supposed to represent
all the workers regardless of their union affiliation or
ideological orientation. All employees over 16 years of
age who are not on probation with the company, are eligible
to vote, and all employees over eighteen years of age, with
seniority over nine months, are eligible to be elected as

members of the Internal Commission.3 In practice, candidates

 

lThe bargaining process is traditionally reserved to
the national confederations, although in these last few
years company-provincial federation agreements have begun

to appear.

2Article 2 of the Collective Agreement which created
the Internal Commissions, Rome, May 8, 1953.

3For an exhaustive study of the Internal Commission
system, see Maurice F. Neufeld, Labor Unions and National
Politics in Italian Industrial Plants (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell
Internationa1"Industria1 and Labor Relations Reports,
Cornell University, 1954).

76

are sponsored by union organizations, and only rarely is
there one or more independent candidates. In fact, when
independent tickets or lists of candidates (as in the
S.I.D.A. case) attract sufficient voters, they organize
into trade unions.

Every year, usually in spring, general elections
are held in the plants to elect a number of Internal
Commission members. Although voting in these elections is
not compulsory, union and managerial pressures, as well as
social and personal influences, are so great that the
voting participation usually exceeds 90 percent. Because
a complete range of ideological orientations characterizes
the union front, the individual voter cannot avoid an
ideological commitment. Some of these commitments are
political in nature and antecede the union pledge: to be
unionized is a party duty. Other commitments are essentially
economic, and ideology is secondary.1 A system of pro—
portional representation almost guarantees a multi-union
Internal Commission.

The elections of the Internal Commissions are
important union and political events. They are often the
object of national interest and, given the predominant role

in Turinese unionism in the Italian labor movement, FIAT

 

lThus, Dr. Vittorio Valletta, Fiat's President,
explained the communist CGIL strong electoral returns as
a consequence of its being the largest, oldest and strongest
union in Italy, and not because of its ideological appeal.
See Neufeld, Italy, op. cit., p. 489.

77

voting returns are often presented by the press as reveal-
ing the political orientation of the Italian labor force.1
These voting returns are of great relevance for union
politics for two reasons. First of all, they represent the
only evidence a union confederation has to support its
membership claims. Secondly the voting pattern is
supposed to be the basis for assessing the proportional union
representation in governmental labor agencies and delegations
legally invested with the power to negotiate collective
agreements with erga ompgs validity.2

Once the Internal Commission is elected, management
is supposed to deal with it as a whole. This is very
rarely done. One reason is that the conflicting ideologies
of the unions, and their competition for members, creates
problems in collaboration. Under these circumstances,
management can foster divisions and weaken the Commission's
power to deal with it. The long history of relations be-
tween the Internal Commission and the FIAT management is

3

clearly documented by Maurice F. Neufeld. It is sufficient

to recall here that the management has skillfully played

 

1See La Palombara, op. cit., p. XV; Herowitz, op. cit.,
pp. 289-92.

2Italian Law transforms the legally negotiated
collective agreements or contracts into laws which when
signed by the President of the Republic, are binding On
every concerned worker whether he is a union member or not.

3Op.cit., pp. 489-93. _See also Raffaele, op. cit.,
p. 292: and walter Galenson, Trade Union Democracy in
westgrn Europe (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1961), pp. 5-7. . '

 

78

its role in the shaping Turinese unionism, particularly
since 1958. Since then FIAT management has dealt separately
with each group of union representativeness in the Internal
Commission, avoiding contact with the members of the
Communist controlled CGIL, although it represented a large
proportion of employees.

At the time of the fieldwork, the distribution of
voting returns was 29.5% to CGIL, 28.5% to SIDA, 22.5%
to UIL, 15.5% to CISL, and 4% to the neo-Fascist union.
As detailed in Appendix A, the voting returns for each
single department were taken as one of the criteria for

stratifying the sample.

PART TWO: WORK AND SATISFACTION

CHAPTER IV

ON BEING AN INDUSTRIAL WORKER: THE PROBLEM OF

SECTOR SATISFACTION

Investigations of worker satisfaction have generally
taken the industrial condition for granted. Studies have
typically ascertained attitudes and feelings concerning
some aspects of industrial jobs and work—life, but rarely
have they focused on the general orientations toward the
industrial way of life itself. Work in an agricultural
or craft industry rather than in an industrial manufacturing
plant points to a pattern of work activity which cannot be
reduced only to differences in job tasks, work flow, and
organization. Other differences exist such as physical
environment of work, type of supervision, and the evaluation
which other people have of the sector of work. All of these
conditions need to be taken into account when a worker
commits himself, willingly or unwillingly, to working in a
farm, office, shop, or factory.

While the economics of the labor market can account
for some of the important premises upon which a choice is
decided, family occupational tradition, rural or urban

residence, education, and other social variables may have

79

80
an impact on the decisions to work in a major sector such
as agriculture, industry, the crafts, or the services.
The conditions of the labor market, which is a reflection
of the labor force composition (hence of the stage of
economic and industrial development), together with the
above mentioned variables, constitute what Lipset and

Rogoffl have called the "opportunity structure, parti—
cularly relevant to occupational mobility.
This opportunity structure, which conditions occupa-
tional inheritance and social mobility, is best analyzed
when the inter—sector mobility is compared with occupational
mobility. "Sector mobility" is in itself a horizontal
occupational movement from employment in one sector of
economic activity to another. Thus, the Italian phenomenon
of the service sector remaining smaller than the industrial
sector has strong repercussions on the trends of vertical
occupational mobility. Here, however, problems of occupa-
tional and employment mobility have only incidental cogency,
for our main interest is in the "choice" made by the Turinese
automobile workers to be "industrial workers." Of course,

the opportunity structure which facilitated or compelled

such a choice must include the occupational setting2

 

l"Occupational Mobility in Europe and United States,"
in S. Nosow and W. H. Form, Man, Work and Society (New York:
Basic Bodks, 1962), p. 371. See also in the same volume
Chapter V, "The Structure of the Labor Market."

2"Occupational setting" is defined by S. M. Lipset
and R. Bendix as "the kind of social structures in which
occupations are found." Social Mobility in Industrial
Society (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press,
1962), p. 271.

 

 

.a.

 

 

 

81

(mainly associated with the structure of the labor force
at a given time), and intergenerational sector mobility
(reflecting past changes in the structure of the labor
force). Both of these have been discussed in the

preceding chapters.

The Economic Sector of Employment

"Sector of Employment" is by no means a straight

equivalent of "Occupational Situs." The sector distinction
refers primarily to broad types of economic activity, while
situs refers to a group of related occupational families
within which greater occupational mobility and transfer
are possible. Thus manufacturing, agriculture, and
services may be considered sectors, while various situses

may be found in each sector.1

 

1With reference to E. Benoit-Smullyan, "Status,
Status Types and Status Interrelations," American Sociological
Review, 9 (1944), pp. 151-61, and to P. Hatt, "Occupations
and Social Stratification," American Journal of Sociology,
45 (1950), pp. 533-43, interest in the situs dimension has
'been raised by R. Morris and R. Murphy: "The Situs Dimension
in Occupational Structure," American Sociological Review,
26 (1961), pp. 383—92. A critique, showing that situses
themselves are, in fact, differentially evaluated, has been
presented by D. McTavish, "The Differential Prestige of
Situs Categories," Social Forces, 4, 41 (l963),pp. 363-68.
In the opinion of the writer, while occupational situs is
of great utility in assessing aspects of occupational pres—
tige and social stratification (as Hatt did, cf. A. Reiss,
Jr., Occupations and Social Status (New York: Free Press,
1961)), sector of employment is indispensable in the analysis
of the opportunity structure and occupational setting, be-
cause of its natural link with the labor force composition
and the economics of the labor market. Moreover, the
difficulties of taxonomy are greater for situs distinctions
than for other sectors differentiation. Additionally, while
the criteria for situs categorization have been mainly
proposed in terms of institutional (Hatt) or functional

 

 

82

The distinction between the three main sectors of
economic activity has long been used in governmental and
social statistics.l Introduced by Colin Clark in Economics
in order to differentiate the "three major divisions of the
economic process" as primary, secondary, and tertiary
industries, the distinction found its utility mainly in
permitting the isolation of "important differences between
the general economic laws under which the three divisions
operate."2 Clark's ideas were taken over by the French
economist, Jean Fourastie, who subjected the classification
to substantial criticism and redefined it in terms of
differences in technological progress and labor productivity
(rendement du travail). Thus, for Fourastie, the inclusion
of one or another industry under the same category of

activité économigue is not a matter of definitions but a

 

matter of the similarities of economic behavior evinced in

 

(Benoid-Smullyan, Morris and Murphy) terms, sectors tend

to be defined by statisticians and economists in such flexible
terms as to be sensitive to changes in the economic

system. Naturally, it is possible to define situses so

that sectors are nothing else but their collapsing

categories.

1In Italy, the distinction goes back to the first
Census of 1861, and it has been used, almost unchanged, up
to the present. See the Annuario di Statistiche del
Lavoro e dell'Emigrazione, 1960, Instituto Centrale di
Statistica, Roma, 1961, p. 14, for a detailed explanation
concerning the Italian categorization.

2C. Clark, The Conditions of Economics Progress
(3rd ed.; London: Macmillan” 1957), ChaPtEI IX: "The
Distribution of Labour Between Industries," pp. 490-508.

 

83

the production process by several activities.1 This
position has greater sociological relevance, for it recognizes
that the meaning of industrial classifications changes in
time under the pressure of technological development, which
destroys old occupations and fosters new ones in response
to changing patterns of consumer expenditures.

In the classifications used in the preceding

chapters, Agriculture includes the related activities of

 

forestry, hunting, and fishing; Industgy (or goods-producing

 

industries) includes mining, manufacturing, construction,

and electrical industries: and Services includes trans—

 

portation, commerce, banking, public administration, the
non—drafted personnel of the military, and recreation and
personal services. These are the classifications currently
used by Italian statisticians to analyze the 1951 census
data on industrial and occupational structure. They do not
differ greatly from those used in the first census of 1861,
which is indicative of the slow pace in structural economic
changes.
Crafts are usually included in the industrial

classification when they deal with manufacturing and in the
service classification when devoted to personal services

(e.g., shoe repair) or to small commercial enterprise

 

1J. Fourastie, Le Grand Espoir du XX Siecle, Presse
Universitaire de France, Paris, 1949, pp.r40—45, and in
particular footnote lion p. 42. See also in G. Friedmann
and P. Naville, Traite de Sociologie du Travail, Colin, Paris,
1961, Vol. 1, Chapter 6: "La Repartition de la Main d'oevre,"
pp. 211-250, in particular p. 222.

84

(e.g., flower shop). In this study, all crafts, even the
manufacturing craft, have been differentiated from industry
or have been categorized with the services. The reason for
this decision is that the typical Italian and Turinese
craftman works in a very small enterprise (less than an
average of two employees per workshop) even though the

shop is mechanized and rationally organized.

Now that these clarifications have been introduced,
we shall consider the problem of how the automobile worker
evaluates the industrial sector of employment, and what
factors dispose him to accept or reject it vis-a—vis other
sectors. To get at this, two questions were posed in the
interview:

1. "With the same hourly pay, would you prefer
to work on a farm machine, an office machine,
or on a machine in a factory?"

2. "Suppose that an (1) office worker, (2) a

skilled factory worker, and (3) a small

independent farmer were occupations with

the same annual income, which of these do you

believe gives most satisfaction?"

These questions were designed to minimize the
economic and other differences between the sectors, in
order to lay bare the dispositions toward the sectors them-
selves. Such dispositions are of great relevance in a
study of worker satisfaction within an expanding economic
system and a developing society. In fact, while in more
mature industrial societies occupational movements are

largely confined to an industrial sector, in a developing

country shifts of agricultural manpower to the industrial

85

sector and from this to the services are the most pre-
dominant. In such a situation, the first aim of an
investigation should be the exploration of the basic atti—
tudes toward the industrial working life as compared to
other sectors, and an inquiry into the factors associated

with such attitudes.

The Choice of Farm, Office, or Factory_WOrk

In response to the first question, "With the same
hourly pay, would you prefer to work on a farm machine, an
office machine, or on a machine in a factory?", the responses

of the automobile workers were distributed as follows:

Farm machine 21.2%
Office machine 24.5
Factory machine 50.7
Others 3.6
Total 100. 0%
(N) (306)

Half of the automobile workers preferred working on
a machine in the factory: one-fourth preferred office work:
and one—fifth would rather work on a mechanized farm.

What factors might affect the different choices?

Although age does not have a strong association
with sector preference, those older than 35 tended to
prefer factory work.1 A greater propensity for office
work is shown by younger workers, three-tenths of whom

preferred working with an office machine as compared to

 

2 'lContingency Coefficient Corrected is .235, with
x = 7.828; DF = 2; p (.05.

86

less than two—tenths of those over 35. This reflects a
previous finding that the age of 35 represents a clear—
cut breaking point in attitudes toward occupational
movement.

Education is not significantly associated with sector
preference, nor is skill level2 or seniority. Neither is
community of residence highly related to sector choice,
athough those living in the urban area preferred office
work in higher proportion than those living in the
Province.

This orientation toward office work among the
younger generation and the residents in Turin can be
interpreted as a reflection of the modern urban-industrial
system of values, and it finds supportive evidence in
the preferences for farm, office, and factory work by

rural-urban background.4 Although the association is low,

 

1"It can be said that there is three times as much

horizontal occupational movement before 35 years of age as
after that age," D. C. Miller and W. H. Form, Industrial
Sociology (2d. ed.: New York, 1964), P. 566.

 

 

2However, once factory and office work are combined
and run against farm work, unskilled workers chose farm work
in greater proportion (25.6%) than the skilled and semi-
skilled (13.6%. work. The association is low and moderately
significant (X = 5.148; DF = 1; p (.05; ‘C- = .202).

3Difference between proportions (.166 versus .289)
is significant with a critical ratio of 2.19, hence p (.05.

4Rural-urban background refers to the size of com-
munity of work socialization when the respondents were 10 to
20 years old. To avoid the difficulties of separating those
reared in rural farm and rural non-farm areas, rural was
defined as communities less than 20,000 inhabitants. The
"urban" character of rural Italian villages, particularly
in Piedmont and in Northern Italy, makes this distinction
more creditable than in other countries.

87‘

it is statistically significant.1 Thus over one—fourth of
those with a rural background chose farm work as against
one-eighth of those reared in cities. On the other hand,
somewhat over two—tenths of the rural workers chose office
work compared to three-tenths of the urban. Differences
between the two resident groups toward factory work do not
substantially contribute to the association.

As seen so far, personal background variables such
as age and education, and residence background variables
like rural-urban residence and rural-urban background,
and occupational variables such as skill level and seniority
do not greatly affect the distribution of the preferences
for farm, office, or factory work. Let us now consider how
occupational background is related to preference of economic
sector of employment.

The effects of a sector experience are clearly
evident in Table 12. About four—tenths of those who have
been employed in agriculture preferred machine work on a
farm, compared to two—tenths of those who worked in.other
sectors, and a mere one-tenth of those who have always been
industrial workers. Office work again attracted a greater
proportion of those with an industrial employment back-
ground than those with craft or services backgrounds. The

non-urban orientation of those with an agriculture background,

 

1Contingency Coefficient is .217, with X2's p (.05.
Once office and factory choices are combined and compared
to farm, the contingency coefficient becomes .225, and the
significance of the association is raised to the .01 level.

88

is revealed by the fact that only four out of ten preferred
to work in a factory compared to almost six out of ten of

those who have always been industrial workers.

Table 12. Workers who preferred farm, office, or factory
work according to their prior sector of employment.

 

 

Worker's Prior Sector of Employment

 

Worker's

 

 

Preference Agriculture Craft and Industry Total
Serv1ces
Farm Work 42.0% 22.8% 11.9% 21.8%
Office Work 16.0 25.2 29.9 25.5
Factory Work 42.0 52.0 58.2 52.7
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(n) (50) (127) (117) (294)
X2 = 19.050: DF = 4; p (.001: E = .302.

Thus, once certain conditions are standardized
("machine work" in this case), the relatively high preference
for factory work does not support the stereotype common
among European intellectuals concerning the natural distaste
of the industrial worker for factory work. Naturally those
with an occupational background in agriculture felt a
greater calling for farm work, but there were as many ex-

agriculture workers who chose factory work as farm work.1

 

1Significant differences between the groups in
Table 12 spring mainly from the large preference for farm
work of those with agricultural experience. This contributes
14.63 to the total X of 19.05. Combining farm and office
work preferences would nullify the statistical significance,
revealing no significant differences among preferences for
factory work.

89

The alleged appeal of "clean, physically less tiring,
more prestigeful" office work appears in part a stereotype.
A kind of pride in being an industrial worker (for those
who have had only this occupational experience) or a
feelingcf unfitness for office work (for those coming from
an agricultural background) may account for the low office
work preference.

The latter consideration raises some doubts con-
cerning the possibility of accounting for the differences
of attitudes toward farm, office, and factory work solely
on the basis of prior sector experience. Without delving
deeply into the complex psychosociological problem of
attitude formation, we may examine the family's sector
experience which can exert some impact on the subject's
preferences. The strength of the Italian family, the
respect for traditional values, and the patterns of inter—
generational sector mobility so connected with the develop-
ment of Italian economy may explain some aspects of
sector satisfaction.

Table 13 presents the percentage distribution of
sector preferences according to father's major occupation.
While there are no great differences in the proportions
preferring factory work, there are significant differences
with regard to farm and office work preferences. The
choice of pffice work is most attractive to sons of crafts-
men and to farmers' sons. This attraction for office work

by sons of craftsmen, compared to sons of service and

9O

industrial workers, can be interpreted as a reflection of

the lower middle class orientation which has always character-
ized Turinese artisans. Conversely, the persistence of
unurbanized orientations on the part of farmers' sons is
evinced by the fact that one-third of them preferred farm
work compared to much lower proportions for the sons of
services, craft, and industrial workers.

Table 13. Workers who preferred farm, office, or factory
work according to their fathers' sector of

employment.

 

 

Fathers' Sector of Employment

 

 

 

Preiggznce Agriculture Services Craft Industry Total
Farm WOrk 33.7% 13.3% 16.4% 17.6% 21.9%
Office WOrk 14.3 28.3 36.1 27.9 25.1
Factory Work 52.0 58.4 47.5 54.5 53.0
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) , (98) (60) (61) (68) (287)
X2 = 18.266; DF = 6; p (.05; E = .312.

These trends are also traceable to the work sector
of the grandfathers' major occupations. Although tendencies
do not rise to statistically significant levels,1 grand-
sons of farmers show a greater preference for farm work,

while grandsons of craftsmen and service workers perfer

 

lChi-Square is 6.210, and degree’of freedom 6,
hence p > .30.

 

 

 

uc. .

ovu-

 

an-

... u
u -

---.

‘lo.

0”.

 

"

\o

«:2‘

‘.
'u

«7,,

‘u

 

91

office work. It should be noted also that the grandsons
of industrial workers prefer office work less than the
others and prefer factory work the most. In other terms,
the older the occupational tradition, the stronger the
attachment to it.

The effects of different patterns of family occu-
pational tradition are discernable in Table 14, which takes
into consideration five different patterns: (1) two
generations in agriculture, (2) two generations in services
or craft, (3) two generations in industry, (4) one generation
in agriculture and one in industry, (5) one generation in
services or craft and one generation in industry.1

Although the differences among these patterns did
not reach a significant level, the tendencies can serve
as guiding hypotheses for further studies. The very
great majority of those whose fathers and grandfathers were
in industry chose factory work in higher proportion than
any other workers. Their orientation toward office work
was less strong than others. A general inference to be
tested in further studies could be stated as follows: those
who come from families which have been in industry for
only one generation are more likely to be oriented toward
office work than those whose families have had a continuous

tradition in industry or agriculture. This seems to be a

 

lOther patterns, reflecting intergenerational sector
mobility, which rarely occurs (as for instance, from industry
to agriculture, and the like), did not have sufficient cases
to be taken into account.

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93

special case of the hypothesis that the older the family's
occupational tradition, the stronger the attachment to it.

One could pose the question of how strong the impact
of personal experience is in the industrial sector of employ-
ment compared with the family's occupational tradition.

The problem cannot be explored here exhaustively.l How-
ever, some hints are provided in Table 15. Workers who
come from families with two generations of agricultural
tradition divide fairly equally in their preferences for
factory work on the one hand and farm and office work on
the other. However, once their occupational backgrounds
are differentiated according to whether they had worked in
industry, those who have not been in industry still are
split evenly, while those who have been mainly in the
industrial sector chose factory work in three out of four
cases.

As already indicated, the evidence is not con-
clusive and further studies are needed to explore the hypo—
theses. However, it appears that while family occupational
tradition makes some differences in sector preference,
personal experience accounts for decisive differences with

respect to preferences of the industrial sector.

 

1The small size of the sub-samples does not
permit a thorough exploration of the effects of occupational
background on the several patterns of family occupational
tradition.

94

Table 15. Workers with grandfathers and fathers in agri-
culture who preferred factory work according to
their occupational background.

 

 

Workers Whose Fathers and
Grandfathers Were Employed
in Agriculture

 

 

 

 

Workers' Total
Preference Workers' Occupational Background
Industrial Non—Industrial

Factory Work 75.0% 46.5% 51.7%

Farm or Office

Work 25.0 53.5 48.3
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0

(N) (71) (16) (87)
X2 = 4.254; DF = 1; p (.05; E = .339.

The Choice of Office Worker, Small
Independent Farmer, or Skilled
Factory Worker

Preferences for farm, office, or factory type of
work are not by themselves necessarily indicative of an
attitude of satisfaction toward corresponding sectors of
employment. In order to probe this attitude more directly,
other questions were posed to the automobile workers.

These were asked to ascertain how they ranked the relative
standing of three occupations which are typical of the three
economic sectors: namely the "small independent farmer"
(piccolo coltivatore diretto), the "office worker" (impieggto)
and the "skilled factory worker" (pperaiorspecializzato).
After some questions as to which was the most desirable,

respected and necessary occupation, the interviewees were

95

asked to indicate which occupation gives most satisfaction.

 

This hopefully would reveal their sector preference.
The distribution of answers to the latter question

is as follows:

 

"Skilled factory worker" 55.6%
"Office worker" 18.3
"Independent farmer" 20.6
Other 5.5
Total 100.0%
(11) (306)

Confronted with a forced choice between a typical
industrial occupation and equivalent occupations in other
sectors of employment, more than half of the respondents
selected skilled factory work as the most satisfying, and
only one-fifth each selected office work and independent
farming. Undoubtedly, the significance of the choices
depends on the assumption that the three occupations were
evaluated mainly in terms of the work satisfaction they
provide. Such an assumption is probably sound. First,
prior questions were aimed at getting the occupation
which was most respected, desirable, and necessary, thus
eliminating (hopefully) the contagion of status and
prestige in the final question dealing with satisfaction.
Second, the data in Table 16 show the limited impact that
the dimensions of respect, desirability, and functionality
had on the choice of "skilled factory worker" as the

occupation giving most satisfaction. In effect, more than

 

one-half of those who chose ”skilled factory worker" as
the most satisfying occupation declared beforehand that the

occupation most respected was the "office worker." And,

96

although desirability is an aspect of a satisfaction more
than one-third declared other occupations to be most desir—
able. The same holds for the attribute of social importance

or necessity of the occupation.1

Table 16. Workers who selected skilled factory worker
as the most satisfactory occupation according
to their choice of skilled factory worker,
office worker or small independent farmer as
the occupation most respected, desirable and
necessary.

 

 

Workers Who Selected Skilled
Worker as the Occupation Most
Compared Satisfactory and as Occupation Most
Occupations: Total
Respected Desirable Necessary

 

 

Skilled Factory

Worker 42.3% 60.4% 65.2% 59.0%
Office Worker 54.4 29.0 2.2 19.4
Small Independent
Farmer 3.4 10.6 32.6 21.5
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (149) (169) (135) (170)

 

Do personal and social characteristics influence
the choice of the skilled factory worker as the occupation

which gives most satisfaction? Age, seniority or education

 

1Naturally, the several aspects are overall highly
associated with the character of satisfaction: Occupation
most respected and occupation most satisfactory C - .489;
Occupation most desirable and occupation most satisfactory,
C": .618; Occupation most necessary and occupation moSt
satisfactory, “C = .657. All with X2's p (.001.

97

are not significantly associated. Skill level makes some
difference,1 for over two-thirds of the skilled workers
selected their own occupation as most satisfying.

Rural-urban background and rural-urban residence
do not appear generally to affect sector choice. However,
urban dwellers selected the office worker as the most
satisfying occupation in a higher proportion than rural
residents.2 Multivariate analysis of background and
residence, as well as of background and region of birth,
does not reveal any consistent trends.

Prior experience in the sector of employment most
directly related to the three occupations appears to have
some impact on the choices of the respondents, as Table 17
shows. Here, as in the case of preference for farm, office,
or factory type of work (Table 12), personal experience in
industry or agriculture seems to affect the choice of the
occupation which gives most satisfaction. Thus more than
two-thirds of the workers with previous industrial ex-
perience chose skilled factory worker, as opposed to only
one-third of those with an agricultural background.
Conversely, the independent farmer was selected more by
those with agricultural background than by those with an

industrial background.

 

1X2 = 5.400; DF = 1; p (.05; ‘c = .212.

2The proportions are one—tenth and two—tenths
respectively, which are significantly different with a
Z = 2.02, hence p ( .05.

 

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up "

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1...

 

V...

 

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98

Table 17. Workers who chose skilled factory worker,
office worker, or small independent farmer
as the most satisfactory occupation according
to their prior sector of employment.

 

 

Workers' Prior Sector
of Employment

 

 

Workers' Choice Total
Agriculture Craft and Industry
Serv1ces

Skilled Factory
Worker 38.0% 59.5% 69.9% 59.0%
Office Worker 24.0 17.5 19.6 19.4
Small Independent
Farmer 38.0 23.0 12.5 21.5

Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

(N) (50) (126) (112) (288)

 

x2 = 16.693; DF = 4; p (.005; E = .287.

More than one—third of those who had worked in
agriculture before becoming automobile workers looked back
upon small independent farming as the occupation which gives
more satisfaction. On the other hand, regardless of prior
sector experience, around one—fifth of the sample saw the
office worker as being the most satisfying occupation.l

Personal experience in a particular sector of employ-
ment appears to display the same effect on choice of the

type of occupation most satisfying as on preferences for

 

1The tendency of those with an agricultural back-

ground to consider office worker as the most satisfactory
occupation although they did not prefer office work, is
remarkable (see Table 12).

99

a machine job in the various sectors. The same holds with
respect to the family's occupational tradition. Although
the grandfathers' sector of employment is not significantly
associated with choices of the most satisfying occupation,
tendencies are discernible according to fathers' sector

of employment (Table 18).

Table 18. Workers who chose skilled factory worker, office
worker, or small independent farmer as the most
satisfactory occupation according to their fathers'
sector of employment.

 

 

Fathers' Sector of Employment

 

Sons' Choice Total
Agriculture Services Craft Industry

 

 

Skilled factory 45.5% 71.4% 65.0% 63.6% 59.1%

worker '

Office worker 21.2 12.5 20.0 21.2 19.2

Small independent

farmer 33.3 16.1 15.0 15.2 21.7
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

(N) (99) (56) (60) (66) (281)
2 I

X = 16.354; DF = 6; p (.05; E = .298.

Sons of farmers, more than others, saw the small
independent farmer as having the most satisfying occupation.
However, substantial differences were not found among sons
of services, craft, and industrial workers who perceived
the skilled factory worker as the most satisfying occupation.
Sons of service workers were the least attracted to the

office worker, but compared to the industrial workers' sons,

100

the differences were slight.l

The test of the impact of the length of family
occupational tradition as seen in Table 19 is generally not
conclusive because of the small marginals-—except for the
case of two generations in agriculture versus one generation
in agriculture and one in industry. There, the impact of a
long family tradition is quite apparent: those who came from
a family which has been in agriculture for two generations
more than anyone else perceive the small independent farmer
as the most satisfactory occupation. One—third of them
selected the farmer compared to 7% of those whose grand—
fathers were in agriculture and whose fathers were industrial
workers.

The joint effects of family tradition and personal
experience are presented in Table 20. Here, as in the
case of preference for factory work, personal experience,
in the form of prior occupational background, affects the
choice of skilled factory worker as the occupation which
gives most satisfaction. Here again, because of the small
size of sub—samples, only workers from two-generation farm
families are considered. These workers split almost in
half in their preference for the skilled factory worker
and other occupations. However, when their occupational
background is taken into account, a much larger proportion
of those who had previous industrial experience preferred
the skilled factory worker than did those who had worked in

other sectors.

 

1Differences between proportions gives Z — 1.28,
hence .05 ( p (.10.

 

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101

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102

Table 20. Workers whose fathers and grandfathers were
employed in agriculture who chose skilled
factory worker as the most satisfactory
occupation according to their occupational
background.

 

 

Workers Whose Fathers and
Grandfathers were Employed
in Agriculture

 

Workers' Occupational

 

 

Workers' Choice Background Total
Industrial Not Industrial

Skilled Factory

Worker 68.7% 39.4% 44.8%

Office Worker or Small

Independent Farmer 31.3 60.6 55.2
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0

(N) (71) (16) (87)

 

X2 = 4.537; DF = 1; p (.05; E = .350.

Thus, these findings support those presented with
respect to preferences for the type of work. Family
occupational tradition makes some impact on the choice
of which occupation gives most satisfaction: while personal
experiences in related occupational sectors account for
differences concerning the choice of skilled factory worker.

Satisfaction with Emplpyment
in the Industrial Sector

Taken jointly, preference for factory work and
choice of the skilled factory worker as the occupation
giving most satisfaction can reveal the level of satis-
faction with being an industrial worker. A cross tabu-
lation of the answers to the two questions previously

analyzed provides the following distribution:

103

n % Index's Score

 

Workers who do not prefer

factory work ppg do not

consider skilled factory

worker as having the most

satisfying occupation . . . . . 79 26.4 0

Workers who prefer factory

work pp; do not consider

skilled factory worker

as having the most satis—

factory occupation, p;

vice versa . . . . . . . . . . . 111 37.0 1

Workers who prefer factory

work app consider skilled

factory worker as having

the most satisfactory

occupation . . . . . . . . . . . 110 36.6 2

 

300 100.0

The above data reveal that somewhat more than one-
third seem very satisfied, an equal proportion partially
satisfied, and about one-fourth dissatisfied with industrial
employment.

A general hypothesis, which has guided the pre-
ceding explorative analysis was:

”Satisfaction with employment in the

industrial sector is positively associated

with grandfather's and father's employment

in the industrial sector.”

A rationale underlying such an hypothesis was that

the Italian "farmer"1 has had low occupational prestige

 

1Through all of the present analysis, the term
farmer has been employed instead of peasant, which is mostly
used in sociological and anthropological investigations
concerning Italy. It is very difficult in Italy to draw
the distinction between farmer and peasant. According to
Redfield (Peasant Society and Culture (Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, Phoenix Books, 1960), p. 18),
"We might say that those agriculturists who carry on

 

104

since Italian industrialization began. A tradition of high
esteem has characterized pursuits requiring mechanical
training and dexterity, particularly among the Turinese.
Factory work and skilled labor, once detached from capital-
istic schemes, were never disesteemed in themselves. More-
over, sharing the societal values of the last century's

"industrial progress,‘ the urban industrial class claimed
to be the advant-garde of all workers, both technically
and politically. Yet, after the industrial trades decayed
with the growth of mass production systems, the farmer,
as a land proprietor, began to regain prestige. Compared
to the proletarian who had nothing but his own arms, the
independent farmer had small land holdings and came to be
highly esteemed both for himself and for his work.

Thus two opposing cultural patterns with their
own values systems should characterize family (occupational)
traditions in industrial and agricultural employment. A
test of the above hypothesis can be undertaken with the
help of data presented in Table 21.

Perhaps with larger numbers in the sub-samples

statistically significant differences might become apparent

 

agriculture for reinvestment and business, looking on the
land as capital and commodity are not peasants but farmers."
Thus it is quite difficult to say, unless an empirical

study could ascertain it, who looks to profits and who

looks "with veneration" or "religious feeling" to the land.
The only clear fact is that these agriculturists own the
land, work on it, and exchange goods. In the absence of

an attitude study or an investigation of their belief-
system, we can think of them as "farming for themselves."

105

 

 

 

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.HN magma

106

among the low, medium, and highly satisfied workers. The
present data hint the presence of two patterns of sector
tradition as influencing the level of satisfaction for
industrial employment. In fact, in the index of satis-
faction for the industrial sector, workers who had fathers
and grandfathers in agriculture constantly scored lower
than workers who had fathers and grandfathers in industry.

Other studies are needed to test the trend discovered here.

CHAPTER V

HAVING A TRADE OR HOLDING A JOB: MODALITIES

OF OCCUPATIONAL SATISFACTION

The preceding chapter reported on the satisfaction
which workers felt for the industrial sector of employment.
This chapter will deal with their satisfaction with their
present type of occupation. Although the "industrial
condition" can be isolated and compared with agriculture,

service, or craft ”conditions,‘ it does not appear to be
homogeneous in the style of work life it imposes. Rather,
within the industrial sector there are a great variety of
working conditions which reflect the multiplicity of
industrial occupations.

Economic and technological development changes the
meaning of occupational categories, and endlessly redefines
industrial classifications.l Forces behind the social and
technical division of work tend to make old occupations
obsolete. Specifically, the impact of increased speciali-

zation has forced many industrial trades to disappear.

With the substitution of specialized machinery (limited to

 

1See in Delbert C. Miller and William H. Form,
Industrial Sociology (2d ed.; New Ybrk: Harper, 1964),
pp. 60 ff. a discussion of this point in the light of occu-
pational trends.

107

108

the production of a single product) for previously exist—
ing all-purpose machines, the first industrial occupations
were subdivided into several semiskilled and unskilled jobs.
Sometimes, but very rarely, old industrial trades were
replaced by new skills, which still required technical
knowledge and the exercise of independent judgment and
dexterity.

More recent technological developments have called
for industrial trades of very high skill to operate and
supervise technical equipment. Indeed, the proportion of
unskilled workers has rapidly decreased, while that of
semiskilled workers has increased.1 However, contemporary
skilled and semiskilled industrial occupations seem tied
to specific work routines, most of which are common to
only one industry. That is, these occupations tend to
cluster around specific types of industries; many are
peculiar to certain types of industry and few are common
to many.

The automobile industry is undoubtedly character—
ized by a high degree of technical division of work and
job specialization. Already by 1910, there were as many
as 23 different occupational titles in the Turinese auto-
mobile industry. Nowadays their number is greatly increased,
but still it does not approximate the situation in the
United States automobile industry which has more than 900

occupational titles.

 

lSigmund Nosow and William H. Form, Man, Work and
Society (New York: Basic Books, 1962), p. 89.

 

109

Most of the occupations in the automobile manu-
facturing are so distinct that occupational activity coin-
cides with the job description. Thus it becomes difficult
to distinguish between occupational and specific job
routines. In most cases occupational training is limited
to a short on—the-job period, and general knowledge of the
work process which was characteristic of industrial trades,
is largely lacking. To be sure, there are great dif—
ferences among the skill levels, but even many of the very
skilled occupations are unique to the car manufacturing,
thus greatly limiting horizontal mobility.

To illustrate, the worker could be a lathe operator
who could find employment in other industries, or he could
be simply a machine operator in an automobile plant; he
could be an electrician who could be employed in almost any
industry, or he could be a piston fitter employable only
in automobile industry. The distinction here is between
an occupation which has some characteristics of a trade,
and an occupation which is simply a jpp or employment.

This distinction was already made by Everett C. Hughes,
back in 1928, in "Personality Types and the Division of
Labor,"1 and it was mainly based on the following criteria:
1) the manner in which the person enters an occupation,

2) the attitude of the person toward his occupation, and

3) the implied standing of the occupation in the eyes of

the community.

 

1The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 33
(March, 1928), pp. 754-768.

110

However, two other criteria have to be added:
4) the type of technical training required, and 5) the
degree of horizontal mobility in the occupational market.

The former criterion focuses on skill, the latter on versatility.

 

Thus the distinction between the two polar types of trade

and job occupations is based not solely on the degree

of skill, but also on the particular type of technical
training received.1 In fact a skilled job is not the same

as a trade. A trade-type occupation implies a high potential
for horizontal mobility with respect to technical qualifi—
cations, which is very difficult when the training is tied

to work routines peculiar to specific types of industries
(mono-technical training) as is often the case for some
highly skilled jobs.

Real trades are difficult to find within the auto—
mobile industry. In the plant where our sample was drawn,
less than two per cent of all workers could satisfy the
requirements of a poly-technical skilled occupation, and
almost all of these were employed in the experimental
department, where the work is still creative and craftlike

in character.

 

1One may speak of poly—technical and mono-technical
training and occupations. French and Italian industrial
sociologists often distinguish between polyvalent and mono-
valent occupations (polivalenti e monovalenti in Italian).
This distinction can be approached by considering as poly—
technical occupations those listed in the Dictionapy of
Occupational Titles under the heading of "Any Industry,"
and monotechnical occupations as those listed under the
heading of "specific industries." Usually, only highly
skilled occupations which are also poly—technical can be
called trade—type occupations.

 

 

 

111

The sample design included workers from the experi-
mental department, two assembly lines, and a production
section. Of course, the total numbers which corresponded
to skilled-job category and unskilled—trade category had
to be small. Cross tabulations between the skill variable
and the trade—job dimensions are presented in Table 22.

The fact that they highly correlate reveals the near equi—
valency of the dimensions. However, at times the analysis
will separate the dimensions when dealing with the variable
of degree of technological control which the worker is able
to exert on production processes. As we pass from a trade-
type occupation (electrician, turret—lathe operator) to
production job-type occupations (automatic-lathe operator,
machine tender) to assembly line job-type occupations
(screw—driver man, instrument-board assembler), the degree
of comprehensive knowledge of the technological process

and the exercise of independent judgment decreases steadily.

Thus, skill level and type of occupation are the
two technical dimensions which will be related to satis-
faction for the present occupation (see Table 1). How-
ever attitudes toward one's occupation may also be a matter
of personal adjustment to the occupational sub—culture.
Hence, another dimension of analysis which pertains to

social aspects of worker satisfaction is, occupational

 

socialization. Third, occupational conditions themselves
constitute sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
Within a given occupation, workers often differ in levels

of satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

112

Table 22. Distribution of workers in various skill levels
and types of occupations.

 

 

Occupational General Machine Job-Types Trade Total

 

 

Level Assembler Operator Types
(a) (b) (a+b) (c) (a+b+c)
Unskilled 99.3% 87.5% 94.8% 12.9% 69.9%
Semiskilled .7 12.5 5.2 50.5 19.0
Skilled .0 .0 .0 36.6 11.1
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (133) (80) (213) (93) (306)
(a), (b) and (c): x2 = 214.946; or = 4; p ( 001; E'= .870.

(a+b) and (c): x2 = 204.988; DF = 1; p (.001; E'= .926.

In order to ascertain the levels of satisfaction
of the automobile workers we asked the following two
questions:

1. "On the whole, are you satisfied or not
with your present occupation?"

2. "Have you ever thought of having an
occupation different than your present
one?"

The first question was designed to ascertain the
general feeling of satisfaction, and the second the intensity

of the feeling.1

 

1Subsequent questions were concerned with how often
the worker thought of changing his present occupation,
which occupations he considered, what were his plans to
change, and to which occupation did he aspire.

113

Satisfaction with Present Occupation

The question probing the worker's feeling toward
his present occupation was: "On the whole, are you satis-
fied or not with your present occupation?"1 The distri-

bution of the responses is as follows:

Satisfied 72.5%
Neither satisfied
nor dissatisfied 16.0
Dissatisfied 10.5
Don't Know 1.0
100.0
(306)

Almost three-fourths of the workers interviewed
were satisfied with their present occupations; one—sixth
were not completely satisfied or dissatisfied: and only
one—tenth were decidedly dissatisfied. Thus, these auto—
mobile workers on the whole felt satisfied with their
present occupation. Let us now examine the impact of several
variables on this attitude.

Neither age, educational level, nor marital status
distinguished the satisfied from the dissatisfied worker.
However, as Table 23 Shows, skill level does make a difference.
Actually, no skilled worker declared he was dissatisfied

with his present occupation, as opposed to about ten percent

 

1The interviewer was instructed to probe the inter—
viewee's understanding of the question pertaining to his
occupational category. In cases where the respondent had
a job—type occupation, i.e., a company job classification
title, the question was rephrased, "On the whole, are you
satisfied or not with being a (job title)?"

 

114

Table 23. Degree of occupational satisfaction by skill

 

 

 

 

level.

Occupational Skilled Semiskilled Unskilled Total
Satisfaction Workers Workers Workers
Satisfied 88.4% 82.7% 68.3% 73.4%
Neither Satisfied
nor Dissatisfied 11.6 6.9 19.4 16.2
Dissatisfied .0 10.4 12.3 11.4

Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

(N) (34) (58) (211) (303)

X2 = 11.601; DF = 4; p (.05; E = .258.

of the semiskilled and unskilled workers. Differences
between semiskilled and unskilled workers were mainly with
respect to the medium level of satisfaction. It appears
that the technical character of the work of the semi—
skilled tends to make them either definitely satisfied or
dissatisfied. While they have to exercise manipulative.
abilities of a high order, these are limited to clearly
defined work routines; while they have to exercise some
independent judgment, they lack wide technical knowledge
and have to rely on decisions made by others.

The distribution of satisfaction levels according
to the type of occupation in Table 24 indicates that
while there are no differences between assemblers and
machine operators, both differ significantly from
workers in trade-type occupations. The latter appear more

highly satisfied, having very few cases in the "dissatisfied”

115

category (3.2%) and these are entirely semiskilled

workers.

Table 24. Degree of occupational satisfaction according
to type of occupation.

 

 

 

Occupational General Machine Job-Types Trade Total
Satisfaction Assembler Operator Type
(a) (b) (a+b) (c) (a+b+c)

Satisfied 66.0% 67.7% 67.2% 87.0% 73.4%
Neither Satisfied
nor Dissatisfied 20.8 16.3 19.1 9.8 16.2
Dissatisfied 13.2 15.0 13.7 3.2 11.4

Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

(M) (130) (80) (210) (93) (303)

 

(a), (b) and (c): X2 = 15.530; DF = 4; p (.01; 5': .286.
(a+b) and (c): X2 = 13.785; DF = 2; p (.01; E = .305.

Tab1e125 presents data on occupational satis—
faction while controlling both for skill level and the
trade-job dichotomy. Although differences are not
statistically significant, mainly because of the small
marginals, the peculiarity of semiskilled workers is
again evident. They are closer to the skilled or un—
skilled workers depending on whether they are either in a
trade or in a job type of occupation. While it is not
possible to generalize, it seems that skill level does not
account for satisfaction with present occupation when the
type of occupation is introduced as a control variable.

In effect, the most dissatisfied seem to be semiskilled

116

workers in job-type occupations. The reason for this may
be the contradiction between their fairly high technical
qualification and their strict work routines.

Table 25. Degree of occupational satisfaction by skill
levels and type of occupation.

 

 

 

 

 

Skilled Semiskilled Unskilled
Subjective Total
Feeling: Trade Trade Job Trade Job
(a) (b) (C) (d)
Satisfied 88.3% 89.3% 54.6% 75.0% 67.9% 73.4%
Neither sat-
isfied nor
dissatisfied 11.7 4.3 18.1 25.0 19.1 16.2
Dissatisfied .0 6.4 27.3 .0 13.1 11.4
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (34) (47) (11) (12) (199) (303)
2

8.225; DF = 2; p (.05; 5': .514
2.018; DF 2; p >.30°

(a) and (b): X
(c) and (d): X

2

It may well be that trade—job differences may account
for degree of occupational satisfaction to a larger degree
than skill level. Those who are in a trade-type occupation,
regardless of their skill level, seem less likely to be
dissatisfied than others. The lack of some control over
the technological process among semiskilled workers in
job-type occupations appears to be less bearable than
unskilled work. By having greater technical qualification
than the unskilled, the semiskilled feel the absence of

technological control over the job to a greater measure.

117

In addition to skill and job-trade variables,
occupational socialization is hypothesized as having an
effect on patterns of satisfaction. Seniority is one of
the main indicators of socialization into the present
occupation. Table 26 presents the relevant data dealing
with the relation of seniority to the feeling of occupation—
al satisfaction. As the sub-totals show, seniority does
not differentiate between dissatisfied and fairly satisfied
workers.l However, longer seniority reduces the chances of
a worker in a trade-type occupation to be dissatisfied with
his occupation. On the other hand, seniority has no bearing
on the occupational satisfaction of those in job-type
occupations. The reason seems obvious: it is unlikely
that length of employment would increase attachment to an
occupation which lacks the characteristics of a trade.

Another indicator of occupational socialization is
occupational background. If the worker had been employed
previously in industry, we might expect his adjustment to
his present occupation to be facilitated. In fact, the
proportion of satisfied workers among those with industrial
background is higher (76.0%) than among those with other
occupational baCkgrounds (71.4%). However, the difference
is not large. Undoubtedly other factors are intervening.
Seniority is one of these, for even those from industrial

backgrounds require time to adjust to the present occupations.

 

1This is also true for breakdowns other than those
used in Table 26.

118

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. uo

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119

Once seniority is taken into account, the association be-
tween industrial background and satisfaction for present
occupation appears more definite. Thus, over three-quarters
of workers with an industrial background ppg more than four
years seniority are occupationally satisfied as opposed to
two-thirds of those without previous industrial employment ppg
less than four years seniority.

Occupational training is another factor which
intervenes in the association between industrial background
and satisfaction with the present occupation. However,
the analysis becomes more complex because of the simultaneous
effects of seniority and of the type of occupation. A multi—
variate analysis of five variables is impossible with the
size of the present sample. Yet an indication of the impact
of occupational training on satisfaction is shown in
Table 27, where controls for seniority and the job—trade
type of occupation are partially introduced. Seniority
here seems to have a greater impact than occupational
training. Those with no occupational training but with
more than four years seniority show the highest percentage
of satisfied workers. Although the differences are not
statistically significant, we know from Table 26 that
seniority differentiates levels of satisfaction with

respect to the job-trade distinction. When this distinction

 

1The difference between the percentages does not

reach the .05 level of statistical significance, the critical
ratio being 1.62, hence .05 ( p (.10.

120

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wmmulmpmsu mmxulnon
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«.mn H.00 0.mh N.h0 muwxuo3 pmammaumm
mo mmmucmowmm
whom» v mumm> c mummw c mumm> c u>uasoacmm
can» who: cmsu mmoq crap who: cmnu mmmq . .

 

mchHmuB Hmcoaummsooo oz

mchHmue Hmcoflummsooo

 

 

pcm .mufluoflcmm .mCHcsmHu

.coHummsooo mo mm>u
Hmcoflummsooo Op mchuooom coauommmaumm HmcoHummsooo .bN magma

121

is introduced as a control of seniority and occupational
training, the impact is exemplified (in Table 27) with
respect to workers who had occupational training and longer
seniority: those with job-type occupations showed the
smallest percentage of satisfied workers, while those with
trade-type occupations show the highest.

The interpretative hypothesis of these findings
has already been mentioned: technical qualification, and
in this last case occupational training, if not exercised
in a trade-type occupation, is likely to foster great dis-
satisfaction. Thus, workers who have the possibility of
exercising some control over technological processes be—
cause of their skill, technical qualification, or occupa-
tional training, but who are in fact prevented from so
doing because they are in a job-type occupation, display
greater occupational dissatisfaction than other workers.
Seniority, which generally tends to increase occupational
adjustment, in this case increases the negative attitude

toward the occupation.

The Desire to Chapge Occupation

 

The second question dealing with occupational
satisfaction was meant to probe the intensity of feelings.
It was,"Have you ever thought of having an occupation
different than your present one?" Responses to this

question distributed as follows:

122

 

 

Never thinks of it 45.8%
Thinks of it sometimes 28.1
Thinks of it often 25.8
No Answer .3
100.0
(306)

Almost half of the automobile workers never thought
of changing their present occupation.l They seemed to
be so adjusted or socialized, that any change was for them
out of the question. A little more than one-fourth thought
of changing occupations at least once. Another one-fourth
often thought of changing, waiting for a chance to move
into other occupations.

What factors account for these different levels
of occupational adjustment? Table 28 reveals that more
skilled workers never think of changing occupations and
unskilled workers most often think about it. Incidentally,
the semiskilled workers still appear to deviate from the
patterns set by skilled and unskilled workers. When the
job versus the trade type of occupation is taken into
account (Table 29), semiskilled workers replicate the

previous pattern, those in trade—type occupations display

 

1The above distribution suggests that the responses
to the first question exaggerated the feeling of satisfaction
with the present occupation. In fact, more than one-quarter
of those who expressed feelings of satisfaction sometimes
think about changing their present occupation. This un-
doubtedly indicates reservations with one's own occupation,
although it is possible that a desire to change is not
necessarily caused by present dissatisfaction, particularly
when the desire arises occasionally and there is no
actual plan to change.

 

123

Table 28. Workers thinking about changing their present
occupations according to skill levels.

 

 

Thinks About Skill Levéis

 

 

Changing Present . . . Total
Occu ation Skilled Semiskilled Unskilled
p Workers Workers Workers
Often 18.2% 13.8% 30.4% 25.9%
Sometimes 24.2 31.0 28.0 28.2
Never 57.6 55.2 41.6 45.9
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (33) (58) (214) (305)

 

X2 = 8.958; DF = 4; .05 ( p (.10; 6': .248.

Table 29. Workers thinking about changing their present
occupations according to skill level and type of

 

 

 

 

occupation.
Skill Level Skilled Semiskilled Unskilled
Total

Type of Trade Trade Job Trade Job
Occupation (a) (b) (c) (d)

Thinks about
changing present
occupation:
Often 18.2% 12.8% 18.2% 58.4% 28.7% 25.9%
Sometimes 24.2 29.8 36.3 .0 29.7 28.2
Never 57.6 57.4 45.5 41.6 41.6 45.9

Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

(N) (33) (47) CLL) (12) (202) (305)

 

(a) and (b): X2 = .577; DF = 2; p >.70.
(c) and (d): X2 = 6.928; DF = 2; p (.05; E": .282.

124

a pattern similar to the skilled, while those with job—
type occupations are more similar to the unskilled. Al—
though the small marginals do not permit us to generalize,
the pattern is generally consistent with previous findings.
However, variations in the pattern call for some qualifications.
A smaller proportion of semiskilled in trade-type occu-
pations than of skilled trade workers often think of chang—
ing occupations. On the other side, unskilled workers in
trade-type occupations often think about changing their
occupations more than any other group. Semiskilled workers
in trades, because of their middle technical qualification,
feel they have a lesser potential capacity to move because
their skill is closely tied to their present work routines.
As for the unskilled workers in trade-type occupations,
they are most eager to change occupation because, having
had experience in a trade (motor adjuster, block tester,
etc.), they are anxious to move into semiskilled or skilled
occupations.

Aside from these qualifications, Table 30 clearly
indicates that those in job-type occupations think about
changing their present occupations more often than workers
in trade-type occupations. Thus, skill levels and type
of occupation both, in their interplay, foster a desire to
change present occupation. Other variables, such as
seniority and unemployment, do not have any definite effects.
However, a greater proportion of those with more than an

elementary school education often think about changing jobs,

125

compared to those who simply have a grammar school edu—
cation (two-thirds and one-third respectively).1
Table 30. Percentage of workers thinking about changing

their present occupation according to type of
occupation.

 

 

 

Thinks About General Machine Job- Trade Total
Changing Present Assembler Operator Types Type
Occupation (a) (b) (a+b) (c) (a+b+c)
Often 31.6 22.5 28.2 20.7 25.9
Sometimes 29.3 31.3 30.0 23.9 28.2
Never 39.1 46.2 41.8 55.4 45.9
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(u) (133) (80) (213) (92) (305)

 

(a), (b) and (c): X2 = 6.380; DF = 4; .10 ( p (.20.
(a+b) and (c): X2 = 4.855; DF = 2; .05 ( p (.10.

Among other factors minimizing the desire to
change occupations are age and marital status. The older
worker thinks less about changing his occupation.2 How-
ever, age has no bearing on the desire of unskilled workers
with job-type occupations to change occupations (Table 31).
As might be expected, data in Table 32 reveal that marriage
minimizes the desire to change one's occupation. However,
having children does not seem to have any significant effect.
This probably reflects the relatively small number of

children in the families of Turinese automobile workers.

 

1X2

2X2

10.993; DF 2; p (.01; 5': .272.

23.123; DF = 8; p (.005; E = .328.

126

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 31. Distribution of workers thinking about changing
their present occupations according to age, type
of occupation, and skill levels.

Skilled Workers in Unskilled Workers in
Trade-Type Occupations Job—Type Occupations
Occgpzfiiznal Less than More than Less than More than
9 35 years 35 years 35 years 35 years
of age of age of age of age

Never thinks

about changing 38.5% 75.6% 41.4% 40.3%

Often, or some-

times thinks

about changing 61.5 24.4 58.6 59.7

Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (39) (41) (133) (67)
Differences give Differences are not
a Critical Ratio statistically signifi—
of 3.31, hence cant.
p (.001.

Table 32. Workers thinking about changing their present
occupations by marital status and number of
children.

Single Married
. Total
ocgfigfigéonal No Children Children
(a) (b) (C)

Never think

about changing 33.8% 53.9% 48.2% 45.9%

Often, or

sometimes

think about

changing 66.2 46.1 51.8 54.1

Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (74) (63) (168) (305)
(a) and (b+c): X2 — 5.786; DF = 1; p ( .02;'c = 136
(b) and (c): X2 = 593: DF = l: p >.30.

127

In summary, thoughts about changing one's occupation
are fostered by various circumstances in which the worker
finds himself. Higher education stimulates these thoughts,
while marriage minimizes them. Since skilled workers are
entirely in trade-type occupations, they are least likely
to think about changing occupations. Unskilled workers,
on the other hand often feel a desire to change. The
interplay of skill level and type of occupation fosters
peculiar problems on the semiskilled worker. His inter—
mediate technical qualifications expose him to the dis-
advantages of job-type occupations and the advantages of
trade-type occupations, decreasing or increasing his
thoughts about changing occupations according to these
circumstances. Finally, unskilled workers in trade-type
occupations appear the most eager to move out of their

ambiguous positions.

Conclusions

Our investigation to this point has revealed that,
while skill level and types of occupation are mainly
responsible for feelings of occupational satisfaction, the
potential capacity to move into other occupations largely
accounts for the desire to change the present occupation.
Lacking such a potentiality, workers find, with increasing
age and seniority, some sort of occupational adjustment.
However, even a slight possibility of shifting to other

occupations, because of occupational training or technical

128

qualification, generates a desire to change and reduces
satisfaction with the present occupation. The condition
of the semiskilled worker exemplifies, in its marginality,
these patterns, as does the ambiguous situation of the
unskilled worker in a trade-type occupation.

Comparing data on feelings of satisfaction (Table
25) with the desire to change present occupation (Table
29) and with the actual planning to move into other
occupations (Table 33) shows that feelings of dissatis-
faction are not directly transformed into desires to
change and actual plans to change. Other factors mediate
this process, the first being the possession of technical
qualifications which enhance feelings of potential mobility.
Table 33. W0rkers planning to change their present

occupations according to skill level and
type of occupation.

 

 

Skilled Semiskilled Unskilled
Plans to Change Total
Trade Trade Job Trade Job

 

 

Planning to change .
present occupation 9.1% 15.3% 9.1% 25.0% 18.3% 16.7%

Never thought of

changing, or not
planning to change 90.9 84.7 90.9 75.0 81.7 83.3

Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

(N) (34) (46) (ll) (12) (202) (305)

 

Thus, although semiskilled workers engaged in job-

type occupations are the most dissatisfied, the proportions

129

who think or actually plan to change occupations are as
low as the skilled workers, who are the most satisfied of
all. On the other hand, although unskilled workers who
are in trade-type occupations include a high number of
satisfied workers, they also have the highest proportion
of those who are thinking about or actually plan to
change their occupations. The explanation seems to be
that semiskilled workers in job—type occupations risk
losing their present occupational qualification by quitting,
while unskilled workers in trade-type occupations have
nothing to lose, and may even have a chance to practice
their trade in a semiskilled or skilled occupation.

In a sense, thinking about or planning to change
occupations indicates occupational aspiration. Such
aspirations are undoubtedly fostered by dissatisfaction
with one's present occupation. Thus, taken jointly,
feelings of dissatisfaction and desires to change present
occupation can indicate a general pattern of satisfaction
with one's occupation. By giving scores of 0 to 1, to
the trichotomized answers to the two questions, and by
adding these two scores, an Index of Occupational Satisfaction
may be obtained.

Table 34 shows how the index has retained the
sensitivity to the individual items, even when combined
into low, medium and high index categories. Unskilled
workers are the least satisfied, and those having job—type

occupations are less satisfied than those in trade—type

130

occupations. Semiskilled workers reveal a mixed pattern

depending on whether they are in a trade— or job-type

 

 

 

 

 

occupation.
Table 34. Index of occupational satisfaction according to
skill level and type of occupation in percentages.
. Skilled Semiskilled Unskilled
Occupational
s tisfacti n TOtal
a 0 Trade Trade Job Trade Job
Index Scores:
Low (0,1) 3.1% 4.3% 9.1% 16.7% 19.1% 14.6%
Medium (2,3) 42.4 44.7 63.6 50.0 45.7 46.0
High (4) 54.5 51.0 27.3 33.3 35.2 39.4
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (33) (47) (11) (12) (199) (302)

 

One of the main dimensions of the previous analysis
was the impact of occupational socialization on the level
of occupational satisfaction. Urban residence was hypo-
thesized as an important factor in occupational sociali—
zation. The Italian automobile industry is essentially
urban, for it is located either in Turin or Milan. Thus,
the several types of occupation found in this industry
should be associated with urban living, insuring that
socialization in the occupational culture would be more
efficiently carried out in the urban environment. More-
over, the social cost of changing one's occupation should

be higher for those living in the cities than for those who

131

commute to work from rural localities. Those who have just
moved into the city are less specific in their occupational
choice and more willing, perhaps, to look for other types
of occupations.

For all these reasons, the following hypothesis was
subjected to verification:

"Occupational satisfaction is positively
associated with urban residence."

The data presented in Table 35 do not support
the hypothesis. Urban dwellers not only exhibit a lower
degree of occupationally satisfied workers than rural
residents, but a higher proportion think about or plan to
change their occupations. On the whole, automobile workers
residing in rural areas are occupationally more satisfied
than urban dwellers.

A possible explanation for this may be that Turin
province is such an industrialized area, with residents
concentrated into compact villages and small towns, that
new industrial occupational values have already replaced
the agricultural ones. However, while urban dwellers,
because of their more mature industrial environment,
aspire for occupations in the service industries, rural
residents regard their present occupations in manufacturing
as already a great improvement over what agricultural and

small rural industries can offer to them.1

 

1See in Chapter v, the differences in attitudes
toward service industries shown by urban and rural residents.
The low level,of occupational aspiration by rural residents

132

Table 35. Occupational satisfaction, desire to change
occupation, and index of occupational satis—
faction, according to rural-urban residence
and regional origin.

 

 

 

 

ReSidence: Rural Urban Total (N)
Regional Origin: North North South
% % %
Occupational Satisfactiona
Satisfied 81.3 73.2 50.0 72.8 (214)
Not satisfied or dis—
satisfied 18.7 26.8 50.0 27.2 ( 90)
Desire to Change Occupationb
Never think about it 53.1 43.9 28.1 44.9 (133)
Thinking and planning to
change 46.9 56.1 71.9 55.1 (163)
Occupational SatisfactionC
Low 10.0 13.5 31.3 14.6 ( 43)
Medium 41.2 50.0 50.0 47.1 (138)
High 48.8 36.5 18.7 38.3 (112)
a 2 ‘—
X = 11.343; DF = 2; X (.01; C = .278
bx2 = 5.992; DF = 2; p = .05; E = .211
C 2 _ _ ".
X — 13.969; DF — 4; p (.01; c — .310.

 

can be explained in terms of the peculiar features of rural
society, which offer a limited range of occupational roles,
insufficient schooling facilities, and limits occupational
aspirations. See Seymour M. Lipset, "Social Mobility and
Urbanization," Rural Sociology, XX (Sept.-Dec., 1956),

pp. 220-28: and, for a critique and retesting of Lipset's
explanation, see Archie O. Haller, "Research Problems on the
Occupational Achievement Levels of Farm-Reared People,"
Rural Sociology, XXIII (Dec., 1958), pp. 355-62.

133

The cost of changing one's own occupation may not
be lower for those who daily commute to the city. Urban
residents probably have more chances for personal contact
in the occupational marketplace and this enhances their
opportunities to find other employment.

Control by regional originl tells us that southern
born workers living in the urban center appear to be the
least satisfied with their present occupation and the most
inclined to change their occupations. One may infer,
therefore, that the relationship between occupational
satisfaction and residence is perhaps better understood in
terms of regional origin. In fact, there may be greater
differences in industrial values between rural areas of
Turin province and urban centers like Rome or Naples than
between rural and urban areas of Turin province itself.
Moreover, the additional cost of changing occupation for
those who have already undertaken the burden of a long
distance move may be relatively lower than for those who
commute from the province or even for those living in the
city.

A last inference, which calls for an investigation
here not envisaged, would be that northern urban dwellers
are looking ahead toward new industrial occupations, while
southern workers are looking back at their old less mechan—
ized ones. Previous investigations and findings tend to

support this hypothesis.

 

lIntroduced only partially because only three
southern workers live in rural areas of Turin province.

CHAPTER VI

DOING THE JOB: SATISFACTION WITH THE TASKS

The two preceding chapters dealt with the aspects
of the worker's satisfaction which concern his "industrial
condition" and the particular type of occupation in which
he is engaged. We now leave these aspects and consider
the crucial aspect of work: job performance. Whereas
the earlier investigation focused on what the worker is,
now it focuses on what he does.

The worker in an automobile plant may be called
upon to perform only some operations within a wider range
of operations pertinent to his occupation. He may be a
lathe operator, but his job may require only a few of the
many operations he is capable of performing on the lathe.
Thus only a part of his trade is required by his "job"
specifications. Is he satisfied with performing only those
operations? Or maybe he is a machine-tender: he can feed
different materials to several different machines, or he
can feed the same materials to a particular machine. In
any of these cases, he has to perform some given specified
operations required by his job instructions. Is he
satisfied with performing just those operations?

At this point we are confronted with what has been

usually called the "intrinsic job satisfaction,” and which

134

135

is here termed "job satisfaction" tout court: the satis-

 

faction which is obtained, felt, or stated by the indivi-
dual worker when performing those tasks or operations which

constitute the content of his job.

The Nature of Job Performance

 

The content of a job is determined by the neces-
sities of the production process and the overall organization
of work flow. Job design and job description are ulti—
mately decided by job analysts on the basis of the require—
ments of the technological equipment and the organizational
structure of work activity. Thus job-task performance ties
the individual worker to the technological environment, and
constitutes the connecting ILUfl< between the social division
of work (from an occupational point of View) and the
technical division of work (from the point of view of the
company job structure).

Sociologically, a technical job description defines
only a part of the worker's behavior.l Beyond the specific
set of operations that he must perform in order to do his
job, there are the patterns of social relations which link
the individual to the organizational structure, the in-
formal groups of which he is a member, and the cluster of
technical relationships which he has to maintain in order

to perform his tasks.

 

1Delbert C. Miller and William H. Form, Industrial
Sociology (2d. ed.; New York: Harper and Row, 1964),
p. 169.

 

136

While the physical and social characteristics of
the work environment will be described in the next chapter,
this chapter will deal mainly with the technical aspects
of job-task performance itself. Although the physical and
social environments have great impact on job-task performance,
and therefore on job-task satisfaction, the level of satis—
faction with one's present job is likely to be related to
the nature of the tasks themselves. Particular features
and casual differences between similar tasks can lead to
differential evaluations of the tasks by the individual
worker. However, the range of satisfaction with job tasks
tends to be fairly limited for similar types of occupations.

The main reason for this limitation is probably the
degree of technological control allowed by the particular
job. While all jobs on an assembly line are not alike, the
ladk of control over one's work pace and the lack of
autonomy in the use of work tools results in a general low
level of satisfaction with assembly type occupations.l

Besides technological control over timing and pace
of work, other features of the job affect the degree of
satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Some of these pertain
to the physical aspects of the job itself: whether it is
clean or dirty, light or heavy, quiet or noisy, and so

forth. Other aspects concern the range of operations to

 

 

lRobert'Blauner, "Worker Satisfaction and Industrial
Trends in Modern Society," W. Galenson and S. M. Lipset
(eds.), Labor and Trade Unionism (New York: Wiley, 1960),
p. 346.

137

be performed (or what is technically known as the number
of constituent motions within a given time cycle), the
uniform or varied nature of the operations, and the
relationship of the job tasks to the entire work process
(which depends on the type of work position within the
production process and on the location of the work station
in the work flow). Another important aspect is the degree
of sppervision which is required by the organizational
setting of the job tasks, and which may contribute to the
overall feeling of lack of independence in the job.

The subordination of man's rhythms to those of
the machine is responsible for many job aSpects which
are frustrating: physical effort, fatigue, monotony,
boredom, and so forth. Mechanical pacing of work, as in
the assembly line, or semi—automatic processes, as in
certain machine work, increase sources of dissatisfaction
and foster a general feeling of frustration. Sometimes
inaccurate timing of job routines provides too much free
time which leads to boredom, or the timing may be too
tight, creating an unbearable sense of fatigue. More
often modern technological processes in industry require
great attention, but not enough interest, which leads
to feelings of monotony and dissatisfaction.

Satisfaction with job tasks has been the primary
target of most of the research dealing with worker satis-
faction. Assessing the levels of satisfaction is risky,

and we emphasize here, as in Chapter I, that our aim is

.n. -

138

not to measure absolute levels of satisfaction, but to as—
certain the comparative standings of different types of
workers within the sample.

The two foci of inquiry into levels of satisfaction

will be: 1) theypsycho—technical and organizational

 

conditions of work activity, and 2) the impact of occupation-

 

 

al, personal, and social characteristics on the levels of

 

satisfaction (see Table l). The first will provide cues
as to what the workers View as mainly responsible for their
feelings of satisfaction with job tasks, and the second
will probe which social characteristics are associated with
liking or disliking job tasks.1

In order to ascertain the level of satisfaction
with the present job tasks, several questions were posed
to the workers. The two main questions, with their probes,
were the following:

"How about the operations you actually per—

form on your job: on the whole, are you

satisfied with the work you are now actually

doing or not? . . . Could you tell why?"

"Would you like, without a change in pay, to

change your type of work activity every once

in a while, or not? . . . How often?"

The wide range of reasons given by the workers

themselves for liking or disliking their job tasks were

classified as follows:

 

1S. Wyatt and R. Marriott have pointed out in their
Study of Attitudes to Factory Work (Medical Research Council,
Her Majesty's Stationery Office London, 1956, p. 52) that
this is "one of the many problems still awaiting investi-
gation."

139

1. Physical and technical conditions of work activity
(clean-dirty, light-heavy, quiet—noisy, etc.)

2. Psycho—motor conditions of work activity
(degree of attention required, simple-complex,
uniform-varied, work-pace, etc.)

3. Organizational and social conditions of work
activity (responsibilityi initiative, super-
vision, work associates, etc.)

Other answers which were too vague, such as "I
like my job, but I don't really know why" or "I dislike it,

because it is a stupid job,‘ were considered "don't know”

2
answers.

Feelings of Satisfaction with Job Tasks

To the question "How about the operations you
actually perform on your job: on the whole, are you satis—
fied or not with the work you are now actually doing?",

the sample of Turinese automobile workers answered as

 

follows:

Satisfied 76.1%

Neither satisfied

nor dissatisfied 12.7

Dissatisfied 10.8

No answer .4
100.0%
(306)

1

Work associates are here taken into consideration
as long as they have a direct bearing on the satisfaction
with the job performance. Their relevance in all other
cases is considered in the next chapter which will deal
with the physical and the social environment at work.

2Any further probe by the interviewer failed to
identify the aspects of the job which were liked or
disliked.

140

The majority (three-fourths) expressed a feeling
of satisfaction with their present job tasks, and out of
the one-fourth of those who did not, about half were decided-
ly dissatisfied. Although the high percentage of satis—
fied workers may be somewhat amazing, this figure is very
close to the findings of many studies.1 However, it is
possible that some workers have overestimated their feel—
ings of satisfaction, or perhaps some feel reluctant to
express unfavorable evaluations for fear of being exposed
to reprisals. The problem is common to all research in
the field, but it is quite interesting that an Italian
sample probably has higher face validity than an English
one.

There are some reasons to have confidence in our
general findings. Certainly, only those applicants who
are suitable for certain types of jobs are accepted for
employment, and those who do not succeed in adjusting to

their jobs are likely to quit.3 Supporting this observation

 

lSee R. Blauner, op. cit., p. 353 and p. 355.

2Wyatt and Marriott (op. cit., p. 5) found in two
English car manufacturing factories percentages as high
as 91%. The authors were obliged to acknowledge the
possibility of an "inflationary tendency" due to leniency
and reluctancy.

3The lower rate of unemployment in Turin as compared
with Italy as a whole, together with the general economic
and company expansion (described in Chapters II and III),
lead us to consider this observation as tenable, given the
high rate of horizontal mobility which seemed to character-
ize Turin and the car manufacturing company during the years
of the fieldwork. It must also be recalled that the sample
includes only workers with at least one year seniority.

142

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141

is the association between level of satisfaction and age
presented in Figure 7. The curve of satisfied workers
according to their age is definitely similar to that pre-
sented by Benge and Copell, which has been supported by many
research findings.1 The curve shows that the youngest group
had a large proportion of satisfied workers, that the lowest
level of satisfaction occurred in the 21—30 age brackets,
and that after 30 years of age satisfaction went up.

This can be interpreted as a consequence of
selective job assignment, the enthusiasm of the youngest
(necessarily with short seniority) for their first job,

a subsequent period of frustration which replaces the

enthusiasm, and a later period of adjustment to reality.

As Wyatt and Marriott have pointed out,2 the increase in

satisfaction with age does not indicate that the worker

becomes more satisfied as he gets older, but that the

discontented tend to leave early in their careers. The

age range of 21-30 represents the crucial period of

searching for an alternative job. Moreover, the age of

35 represents the breaking point between higher and lower

horizontal mobility rates. The high turnover in the

assembly line types of occupation occurs below the age of 35.
Other evidence that satisfaction with jdb tasks

is not enhanced by increasing age per se, is suggested by

 

See Frederick Herzberg, et a1., Job Attitudes: Review
of Research and Opinion (Pittsburgh, Penna.: Psychological
Service of Pittsburgh, 1957), p. 6.

2Op. cit., p. 7.

142

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004

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143

the fact, that, while age was associated with satisfaction,
seniority was not.1 Given the strong and highly signifi—
cant association between age and seniority,2 it appears
that satisfaction among older workers was due not so much
to a longer period of job adjustment as to dissatisfied
workers quitting at an early age, regardless of their
seniority.

Besides age, very few other personal and social
characteristics were associated with the feeling of
satisfaction with present job tasks. In fact, the
relevant variables appear to be skill level and type of
occupation. This might be expected, after what the pre-
ceding section has revealed about satisfaction depending
on job tasks and the nature of the job performance itself.

Education did not at all affect the distribution

of satisfaction among the workers.3 In fact the percentage

 

1The X2 between satisfaction with job tasks and age
was 9.426; DF = 4; p = .05, C = .229, whilevfiifliseniority
the Xz's p is greater than .30. The association between
length of service and job satisfaction is not conclusive
in many studies, and often it is not controlled by age, as
Herzberg and his associates have pointed out (op. cit.,
pp. ll-18). That seniority has no real impact on the level
of job satisfaction is supported by the following conclusion
concerning the middle period of length of service: "The
worker who successfully passes the period of initial adjust-
ment is less likely thereafter to quit his job, but he
reports low satisfaction for a number of years." (Ibid.,
p. 12 italics mine).

2x2 = 127.641; DF = 9; p (.001; E = .734.

3The chi—square's probability is-greater than .95.
In general there is no consensus about the relationship
between job satisfaction and education. Studies supporting
the association are "not conclusive" (ibid., pp. 15—17).

 

144

of dissatisfied workers among those with an elementary
education is the same as among workers with higher edu—
cation (10.3 and 10.9 percent respectively). Neither
community of residence, community of work socialization,
previous industrial background, or even occupational
training were associated with job satisfaction.

There was, however, some relationship between
marital status and satisfaction. But, as in many other
studies, the association was not clear—cut;l for only when
dissatisfied workers were combined with those who were
neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, was there a signifi-
cant positive association between marital status and job
satisfaction.2 Thus more unmarried workers were dissatis—
fied than married workers (one—third and one-fifth respec—
tively). Having children did not affect the distribution
of satisfaction.

Satisfaction with present job tasks was unequi-
vocally associated with skill levels: none of the skilled
workers expressed dissatisfaction with their tasks, but
one-seventh of the unskilled workers did (Table 36).

The proportions of satisfied workers decreased from higher

to lower skill levels.

 

1"In summary, the literature on how job attitudes
are related to marital status and number of dependents
does not permit any clear—cut conclusions to be drawn"
(Herzberg, op. cit., p. 24).

2x2 = 4.220; DF = 1; p (.05; E = .183.

145

Table 36. Degree of jobs tasks satisfaction by skill level.

 

 

Satisfaction with Skilled Semiskilled Unskilled

 

Present Job Tasks Workers Workers Workers Total
Satisfied 88.2% 87.9% 71.4% 76.4%
Neither satisfied
nor dissatisfied 11.8 6.9 ' 14.5 12.8
Dissatisfied .0 5.2 14.1 10.8
Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (34) (58) (213) (305)

 

x2 = 11.949; DF 4; p (.05; E = .273.

Data in Table 37 reveals that the proportion of
satisfied workers was almost the same (and statistically
not significantly different) among assemblers and machine
operators. Although assemblers showed slightly more
dissatisfaction than machine operators, the most signifi—
cant difference was found between workers having job—type
occupations and those having trade-type occupations,
14.6% and 2.2% of dissatisfied workers respectively.

Satisfaction with job tasks probably means dif—
ferent things at different levels of skill and in dif—
ferent types of occupations. Thus we need to analyze the
reasons given for the feelings of satisfaction or dis-
satisfaction, and to investigate which particular features
associated with skill levels and type of occupations

make tasks more or less satisfying.

146

Table 37. Degree of job tasks satisfaction according to
type of occupation.

 

 

 

Satisfaction General Machine Job- Trade-

with Present Assembler Operator Types Types Total
Job Tasks: (a) (b) (a+b) (c) (a+b+c)
Satisfied 69.7% 72.5% 70.8% 89.2% 76.4%

Neither satis-
fied nor dis—

satisfied 14.4 15.0 14.6 8.6 12.8

Dissatisfied 15.9 12.5 14.6 2.2 10.8

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (132) (80) (212) (93) (305)

 

(a), (b) and (c): X2 = 14.620; DF = 4; p (.01; E = .289.
(a+b) and (c): X2 = 14.020; DF = 2; p (.001; c = .306.

Table 38 presents the data on reasons given for
satisfaction or dissatisfaction with job tasks. As
previously mentioned, the variety of reasons were classi-
fied in three mutually exclusive categories. The first
included all reasons pertaining to the physical and
technical conditions of work activity. The second category
embraces reasons which refer to the psycho—motor conditions
of work activity, that is to those aspects of the task
Which are mainly psychological in character. Finally,
the third category covers the reasons concerning the organi-
zational and the social conditions of work activity.

Besides these reasons, there were others which were
run: clear. Vague and "don't know" answers represented one-

thilcd of the responses given. As Table 38 reveals, satisfied

147

workers gave vague or "don't know” answers in a higher
proportion than dissatisfied workers. It may be easier
to identify reasons for dissatisfaction than satisfaction,
and it may be even more difficult to isolate reasons for
ambivalent or intermediate feelings. Whatever the case,
workers who were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied sur-
passed all others in their failure to identify reasons
for their feelings.

Table 38. Degree of job task satisfaction according to
reasons given.

 

 

 

Neither
satisfied
Dis- nor
Reasons satisfied dissatisfied Satisfied Total
Physio-technical 42.4% 18.0% 16.3% 19.3%
conditions
Psycho-motor
conditions 27.3 30.8 27.5 27.9
Organizational
and social
conditions 15.1 12.8 22.3 20.3
Vague answers and
"don't know" 15.2 38.4 33.9 32.5
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(n) (33) (39) (233) (305)

 

X2 = 15.709: DF = 6: p (.02: El: .282.

Almost half of the dissatisfied workers objected

to the physical and technical aspects of job performance.

148

For them, the job tasks were too heavy, dirty, or tiring.
On the other hand, among the satisfied, only one-sixth
were concerned with physical and technical conditions of
work. Obviously, laborious or heavy jobs yielded more
dissatisfaction than easy or light jobs.

Psycho-motor conditions, on the other hand, did
not account for difference in satisfaction. In fact the
proportion of workers giving these reasons in evaluating
their job remained constant for all degrees of job tasks
satisfaction or other job aspects related to psycho-motor
abilities. This could mean that uniform or varied operations
can be as much a source of satisfaction as dissatisfaction.
Thus certain conditions can make a slow-paced job either
boring or well-timed, or a fast-paced job either challeng-
ing or strenuous, depending on the worker.1

As one may have expected, type of supervision,
degree of job responsibility and initiative, and kind of
work associates were generally greater sources of satis—
faction than dissatisfaction. Organizational and social
conditions of work activity were mentioned by almost one-
fourth of the satisfied workers, and less than one-sixth
of the dissatisfied workers.

The reasons given for being satisfied or dissatis—
fied differ noticeably when skill level is taken into

account (Table 39). Psychological aspects, such as interest

 

1See William F. Whyte Jr., Money and Motivation
(New York: Harpers, 1955).

 

149

 

 

 

 

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cofluummmflumm mxmmw non How cm>flm mcommwm

.mm magma

150

or variety in the job, and psycho-motor characteristics,
such as the degree of accuracy required are factors given
by more than one-third of the satisfied workers holding
skilled and semiskilled occupations. Other important job
aspects for these workers include the organizational and
social conditions of work activity.

Unskilled workers had a higher proportion of satis-
fied respondents giving vague or "don't know" answers,
and distributed their other reasons almost equally among
the remaining three categories. Physical and technical
job conditions (easy and light clean job) were more often
sources of job satisfaction among the unskilled workers
than among the skilled and semiskilled workers. The same
pattern holds true for the dissatisfied workers: the un—
skilled workers paid more attention to the physio-technical
characteristics of the job than the skilled and semiskilled
workers. This might be obvious because the physical aspects
of the job performance are more important to unskilled
workers than to skilled and semiskilled workers.1 The
predominant importance of the type of work is shown in

Table 40, where those in trade respond more to the

 

 

1Notice that the 45% of the skilled and semi—

skilled workers who were not satisfied represent only 5
Workers. Two of these did not know why they were not satis—
fied, while the other three gave the following answers:

"I<do my task because I am obliged to, but I don' t like it,"
"I could be satisfied and more efficient if I had better
tedhnical equipment, " "My feelings depend entirely on
the circumstances, sometimes I'm satisfied, some other
times I am dissatisfied. "

151

 

 

 

 

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152

psycho—motor conditions of work activity and, conversely,
where those with a job-type occupation focus more on physio-
technical conditions. Again, those with trades showed a
great concern for the organizational and social sources of
job satisfaction.

Differences between assembly line workers and machine
operators were not very great, particularly with respect
to the reasons for being satisfied. However, the assemblers
tended to emphasize organizational and social aspects as a
source of job dissatisfaction, while machine operators more
frequently mentioned physio-technical aspects.

Differences were also noticeable between types of
work, as Table 41 shows. Body mounters, who do more physi-
cal work than other assemblers, placed greater emphasis on
physio—technical conditions of work activity. Crankshaft,
gear, clutch and other part assemblers were least concerned
with organizational and social conditions of the job.

But those whose work activity requires an organizational
coordination, such as block, transmission, and other

units testers (as well as carburetor and other motor and
chassis inspectors), placed a heavy emphasis on organi—
zational and social conditions of the job as sources of satis—
fac1;ion. Line feeders and utility men were concerned with

the psycho—motor conditions of their jobs, and like part
aSSEEmblers, were often unable to identify reasons for their
feel--.ing of satisfaction.

Among the machine operators, differences were found

accotrcfling to the type of production. WOrkers engaged in

 

153

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154

"rough production, such as boring—machine operators were
more concerned with physical conditions as sources of satis-
faction and with psycho—motor conditions as sources of dis-
satisfaction. On the other hand, those in finishing opera-
tions such as reaming-machine operators were satisfied

by virtue of the psycho-motor conditions of the jobs and
dissatisfied with their physio—technical aspects. This

may be expected because rough productionjjsmore laborious
than finishing production. Finishers must constantly check
on the accuracy of the job done, so that interest and other
psychological attributes of the job tend to be raised.

Workers in trade-type occupations (such as millinge
machine operators, lathe operators, pattern lay-out markers,
electricians, job setters, maintenance mechanics, and so

forth) did not reveal an appreciable difference in the
reasons given for disliking tasks. Probably because so

few were dissatisfied. Among the satisfied, organizational
and social job aspects were emphasized by motor testers and
maintenance mechanics, and psychological conditions by
Pattern lay—out men. All the others named reasons more or
less equally among the various categories.

To summarize the present section: the feelings of
Satisfaction with job tasks appeared to be more directly
assC>ciated with occupational and job variables than with
personal and social characteristics of the workers.
Besi<fles age, which presented a curvilinear relationship

thh feelings of satisfaction, only marital status was

155

associated with levels of satisfaction. On the other hand,
skill levels and, to a lesser degree, type of occupation
accounted for differences in levels of satisfaction. As
for the reasons for such feelings, unskilled workers were
more concerned with conditions related to bodily comfort,
while skilled and semiskilled workers emphasized psycho-
logical aspects of work activity.

In general, feelings of satisfaction were more re-
lated to physical and technical conditions of the job (which
allowed for bodily comfort) than to psychological aspects,
such as interest or creativity. Feelings of dissatisfaction,
on the other hand, were imputed to psychological aspects and
speed of work pace more than to any other factor. However,
interest accounted for satisfaction as much as boredom
accounted for dissatisfaction. In other terms, psycho—
motor conditions of work activity were as much a source of
dissatisfaction as a source of satisfaction. Type of work
seemed the decisive factor. The most dissatisfied workers
were parts assemblers and rough-machine operators, due to
the speed of work pace for thepparts assemblers and monotony

fipr the rough—machine operators.

Qesire to Change Present Job Tasks

The second question concerning satisfaction with
job tasks was: ”Would you like, without a change in pay,
to change type of work activity every once in a while, or

not?" The distribution of responses was as follows:

156

Would like to change 47.4%
Would not like to change 47.7
Current job already

involves task changes 4.6
No answer .3
100.0

(306)

Half of the workers would like to change present
job tasks every once in a while. Compared with the pro-
portion who declared they were satisfied with their job
tasks, this proportion seems somewhat high. Although the
workers may have exaggerated their feelings of satisfaction,
it is possible that a man feels satisfied with his job
tasks and yet desires a change on occasion. This appears
to be the case. However good and comfortable the conditions
of work activity may be, workers would like to experience
an occasional change in order to break the monotony or to
experience other forms of work activity. This was reflected
in the kind of reasons they gave to explain their desire

to change job tasks:

To relieve monotony

and to vary tasks 50.7%

To learn other skills

or improve careers 36.2

Because present activin

is not satisfactory 9.0

"Don't know" answers 4.1
100.0
(144)

As seen above, less than one-tenth expressed a
desire to change their present job tasks because they dis-
liked them. All others felt that they needed a change once
in a while to break the monotony (one half), or to improve

their skills (about one-third).

 

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.,

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157

The relationship between the degree of job task
satisfaction and desire to change present job tasks is better
shown in Table 42. Satisfaction and the lack of desire to
change jobs are clearly associated.1 Yet one-fourth of the
satisfied workers would have liked to change their job tasks
every two months or more, some (4.1%) only for the time
required to learn a new skill, and others for a longer
period. On the other hand, one—fourth of the dissatisfied
had no desire to change their present job tasks. Eight
unskilled workers, although dissatisfied with some conditions
of work activity, felt that a change would not have improved
their situation.

However, the majority of satisfied workers desired
no changes in their job tasks, while the great majority of
dissatisfied workers wanted to change, one-third at least
every month and another one-half every two months or more.
Workers having a medium degree of job task satisfaction
were in between these extremes. '

Data in Table 43 shows that the desire to change
job tasks and skill levels were negatively associated.

Only one-half of unskilled workers would change their
present job tasks as compared with almost three-fourths of
skilled workers. The semiskilled workers appeared closer

to the unskilled than to the skilled workers. Evidently

 

lWithout considering the frequency of desired change,
the degree of job tasks satisfaction and desire to change
present job tasks are associated with X2 = 13.355; DF = 2;
p (.005; E = .299.

Table 42.

158

of job tasks satisfaction.

Desire to change job tasks according to degree

 

 

Desire to

Degree of Job Tasks Satisfaction

 

 

 

change . . . . Total
. Dis- Ne1ther satisfied . .
JOb tasks satisfied nor dissatisfied Satisfied
No desire to
change 24.2% 46.2% 57.4% 52.4%
Desire to
change:
every month
or less 33.4 17.9 12.1 15.1
every two
months or
more 49.4 33.3 26.3 28.6
unspecified
frequency 3.0 2.6 4.2 3.9
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (33) (39) (232) (304)
Table 43. Workers desiring to change their present job

tasks according to skill levels.

 

 

Desire to

Skill Levels

 

 

 

change Total
job tasks Skilled Semiskilled Unskilled
Workers Workers Workers
No 70.6% 55.2% 48.8% 52.5%
Yes 29.4 44.8 51.2 47.5
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (34) (58) (213) (305)
2 ._
X = 5.779; DF = 2; p (.08: c = .199.

159

the monotony in their work made it more similar to that of
the unskilled workers than of the skilled workers (although
with respect to the work life as a whole, the reverse is
probably true).

Differences between types of occupation with respect
to a change in job tasks were negligible.1 While occupation-
al background made no difference, degree of occupatkanal
training was positively associated, since those who had some
training were more willing to change job tasks than those who
did not.2

The only other occupational variable which showed
some association with the desire to change job tasks was
seniority.3 A smaller percentage of workers with long
seniority desired to change job tasks than workers with
less than four years of service (42 and 55 percent, respec—
tively). Such an association, although not very high,
reflects a negative and significant relationship between
age and desire to change job tasks as evident in Table 44.
This relationship is linear. The youngest workers desired
to change job tasks most, even though they were satisfied.

Thus four—fifths of them were satisfied workers and the

 

1About half of the assembly workers and machine

operators desired job task changes as compared to 40 per-
cent of workers in trade-type occupations (Xz's p is greater
than .20 . Collapsed job versus trade types of occupations
give a X 's p greater than .10 and smaller than .20.

2x2 = 3.863: DF

3x2 = 4.956; DF

1; p = .05; E = .187.

1; p (.05; 6': .198.

160

Table 44. Age distribution of workers desiring to change
their present job tasks.

 

 

Desire to Age Groups

 

 

 

change Total
job tasks 20 or 21-30 31-35 36—45 46 or
less more

Yes 80.0% 57.4% 49.2% 43.5% 25.8% 47.2%
No 20.0 42.6 50.8 56.5 74.2 52.8
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (10) (108) (6l) (62) (62) (303)
2

X = 20.646; DF = 4; p (.001; 6': .335.

same proportion wanted to change job tasks (see Figure 7
and Table 44). These young workers not only desired to
improve their occupational position, but sought less mono-
tonous jobs. The positive relationship between age and
desire to change, and the negative association between
seniority and desire to change, is indirect confirmation
that younger dissatisfied workers are likely to quit or
resign themselves to their condition.

Marital status was significantly associated with a
desire to change, marriage being a restraining factor.l
Education, while not associated with satisfaction with job

tasks, was highly associated with desire to change job

 

1x2 = 9.213; DF = 1; p (.005; 5': .269. Having or

not having children was not significantly associated.

161

tasks.1 Clearly the more highly educated workers felt they
had potential capacity for other jobs and less ability to

remain in uninteresting jobs.

Conclusions

 

The foci of the present analysis have been the psycho-
technical and organizational conditions of work activity, and
the impact of occupational, personal, and social character-
istics on the levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction
with job tasks. As to the first focus, we concluded that
the feeling of satisfaction with job tasks was more
dependent on the physical and technical conditions of work
activity than on its psychological or organizational aspects.
That is, workers who were satisfied with job tasks empha-
sized cleanness, lightness, and other physio-technical
aspects of their present tasks. On the other hand, the
dissatisfied emphasized psycho-motor aspects more than
all other conditions of work activity. This means that,
while a well—timed work pace was not a source of satis-
faction, a rushed time cycle of operations or the high
speed of the conveyor belt elicited feelings of dissatis-
faction. I

Type of work was found to discriminate the reasons
given to explain feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
In fact, if the work required great physical activity, then

physical aspects were emphasized: but if the work required

 

1x2 = 12.599; DF = 1; p (.001; E = .314.

162

organizational coordination, then social and organizational
factors were more relevant. Moreover, if the work implied
coordination of motion over a fixed time, and attention,

the worker was likely to focus his feeling of dissatis-
faction on the psycho-motor conditions and their consequences,
such as lack of interest, monotony and boredom. The pos—
sibility to check the accuracy of the work understandably
reduced the feeling of dissatisfaction.

The impact of occupational, personal, and social
characteristics of the worker on his satisfaction with job
tasks varied according to whether we considered the feeling
of satisfaction declared by the worker or his desire to
change his present tasks. In the case of the subjective
satisfaction with job tasks, occupational variables such
as skill level, type of occupation, and type of work
activity played a considerable role. On the other hand,
very few personal and social characteristics other than
age were associated with thefeeling of satisfaction with
job tasks.

In the desire to change present job tasks,
occupational variables also played a minor role, but,
unlike the case of job satisfaction, personal and social
characteristics revealed greater influence. That is,
while the nature of job performance and the occupational
variable related to it were decisive in the feelings
toward job tasks, personal and social conditions of the
worker greatly affected his desire to change those

tasks.

163

The role of all these variables and factors can be
summarized with the help of an Index of Job Tasks Satisfaction
which has been constructed, giving scores ranging from 0
to 2 to answers to the question pertaining to feelings of
satisfaction, and scores 0 to l to the answers to the
question concerning the desire to change job tasks. When
the combined total scores for each individual worker is
placed into a low, medium, and high category, the distri-

bution is as follows:

Low Job-Tasks Satisfaction 17.8%
(scores 0 and 1)
Medium Job—Tasks Satisfaction 37.9
(score 2)
High Job-Tasks Satisfaction 44.3
(score 3) 100.0%
(303)

The Index, thus trichotomized, was run against
some occupational, personal and social variables. The
resultant associations are presented in Table 45, which
shows that age, marital status, type of occupation, skill
level, education and seniority are, in decreasing order of
importance, the variables which affect job task satisfaction.
This finding supports the already established generaliza-
tions in the field, and points to their cross-societal
validity. It is worth emphasizing that personal and social
variables, such as age and marital status, have greater
impact on intrinsic job satisfaction than such occupational
variables as skill levels and seniority. To be sure, skill
level and type of occupation are undoubtedly the most

important occupational variables, and, although this is

164

 

 

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165

possibly due to the peculiarities of our sample, they
equally affect job tasks satisfaction.

Rural—urban differences, either in terms of
residence or of background, do not have any impact on the
level of job task satisfaction. This was unexpected be-
cause one of the main hypotheses was that job tasks satis-
faction would be negatively associated with rural residence.
Industrial job tasks and rural life were held to be anti—
thetical. Data for Turinese automobile workers do not
confirm this hypothesis.1 However, more specifically
designed studies on the job satisfaction of the part—time
farmer who commutes to an industrial employment are

certainly needed before firm conclusions can be drawn.

 

lProbably for the same reasons stressed in the
preceding chapter a propos of occupational satisfaction
and rural-urban residence.

CHAPTER VII
LIVING IN THE SHOP: WORK ENVIRONMENT SATISFACTION

The fourth area of worker satisfaction to be con—
sidered is the satisfaction derived from working in a
particular environment. Our automobile workers spent one-
third of their daily lives in the factory. They worked
in a human as well as in a physical setting. What were
their attitudes toward both aspects of their occupational
world?

The physical environment of a modern automobile
plant is quite different from that which characterized
the first industrial shops. The unhealthy physical
atmosphere of the early manufacturing plants was undoubtedly
one of the causes of worker discontent. The disregard
for hygienic working conditions by early entrepreneurs
and the rudimentary type of production processes required1
made the shop environment more similar to the workhouse

than to the pre-industrial craft shop.2 In Europe, the

 

1As in the textile industry where the absence of
ventilation was required to prevent threads from drying and
breaking.

2And, indeed, they were a sort of reformatory insti-
tution, particularly for women and children, as the Puritan
boarding-house shops were the first system of factory
production in the U.S.A. E. Bogart and D. Kemmerer,
Econpmic History of the American People (New York: Longmans,
1955 .

166

167

shop environment constituted an important factor in shaping
the class-consciousness of the industrial labor force, not
only because it stimulated social interaction of large
number of worker concentrated in large buildings, but also
because of the character of the physical setting itself.

Today, productive efficiency, the development of
hygienic standards, improved technological processes, and
the availability of ventilation systems have changed the
appearance of the factory environment. However, some of
the typical features of the factory system still remain
sources of dissatisfaction. Large noisy workshops still
exist, dirty production processes are not entirely elimi-
nated, and air conditioners may not cope adequately with
temperature and weather changes.

These material conditions are, by themselves,

 

of little sociological relevance. Yet, they play a role in
the overall pattern of worker satisfactions. Even good
working conditions may be a source of dissatisfaction.1
Once a threshold is reached, workers are probably not made
happier by more lighting or more pleasant temperatures, but
there can be little doubt that they become dissatisfied
with insufficient lighting and inadequate heating during
cold seasons. The discovery of the social nature of work

should not overshadow the way in which good or bad physical

 

lEventually these "good conditions" might be inter—
preted by the worker as one of the many attempts of manage-
ment to exploit his productive efforts.

168

conditions may affect the individual worker or the group.

The human environment of work, however, is the
crucial factor for the worker's adjustment. It has long
been one of the main areas of research into worker satis-
faction. Teamwork and informal organizations have both
received widespread attention in recent years. The present
study focuses attention on the extent of satisfaction the
worker derives from contacts with his fellow workers and
the relationship between such satisfaction and the dif-
ferent interaction patterns which are required to perform his
job.

Technological conditions of work greatly affect the
worker's pattern of social interaction on the job. As
walker says, "the technical nature of the work on the
assembly line neither suggests nor compels interaction."2
On the other hand, production jobs often require workers
to interact closely. Variations can be found within the
same plant and even within the same department. The range
spans jobs which require almost no interaction to be
performed, to tasks which require a high degree of teamwork.
The type of interaction imposed on the worker in order to

perform his 10b tasks, We shall call "technical interaction."3

 

1In a production department or on the assembly line,
noise is an obvious barrier to verbal interaction. Cf. Charles
R. Walker, et al., The Foreman on the Assembly Line (Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1956), p. 129.

21bid., p. 130.

3The question aimed to ascertain this technical inter-
action was: "With how many fellow workers do you have to talk
in order to perform your job?"

169

Subtracting this technical interaction from the "total
interaction"1 on the job provides an index of pure "social
interaction." The latter is neither required nor originated
by his job performance or by the technical character of his
work.

Technical interaction and social interaction repre-

 

 

sent the areas of inquiry into the social setting of work
environment (see Table l)° On the other hand, inquiry into
the physical setting of the work environment will be con—

cerned with physical working conditions (such as space,

 

ventilation,cleanliness, lighting, noise, and temperature)

and the industrial seniority, the length of time the worker

 

has spent in industry.

The feelings of satisfaction with present workplace
and with daily contacts with workmates were ascertained
by the two following questions:

"Do you like the actual place or locale
where you work or not?"

"Are you satisfied or not with the daily contacts
you have with your fellow workers?"

Other questions were aimed to probe these feelings,
and others to ascertain how far from his workplace the
worker could move during working hours, the number of workers
with whom he had some interaction, and the type of inter—

action experienced on the job.

 

1The total interaction was ascertained with the

following question: "With how many fellow workers can you
talk, for one reason or another, during actual working
hours?"

170

Satisfaction with the Physical
Setting of Work

 

Distribution of responses dealing with evaluation

of workplace was as follows:

Likes his workplace 72.6%
Doesn't like it 26.8
Always changing .3
No answer .3
100.0%
(306)

Over seven-tenths of the workers liked their actual
workplace. This proportion was similar to that indicated
for other aspects of satisfaction. This suggests that the
worker already took his workplace into account when he
expressed his feelings about his present occupation.
However, where some occupational variables are considered
we do not find the pattern indicated by occupational
satisfaction. Thus, skilled and semiskilled workers were
more occupationally satisfied than unskilled workers
(Table 23), while in the case of workplace satisfaction
(Table 46) the reverse is true.. The unskilled workers were
more satisfied.

The same trend is shown for type of occupation.

In the case of occupational and job task satisfaction,
general assemblers were the least satisfied workers, but
they were the most satisfied with their workplace (see
Table 47). On the other hand, the least satisfied were

not those in trade-type occupations but the machine

operators.

171

Table 46. Satisfaction with work place according to skill
level.

 

 

Work Place Skill Level

 

 

 

. . Total
Satisfaction Skilled and Unskilled
Semiskilled
Satisfied 65.2% 76.5% 73.1%
Dissatisfied 34.8 23.5 26.9
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (92) (213) (305)
2

X = 4.180; DF = 1; p <.05; E = .182.

Table 47. Satisfaction with work place according to type
of occupation.

 

 

 

 

Work Place General Machine Trade-Type Total
Satisfaction Assembler Operator Occupations
Satisfied 84.1% 60.0% 68.8% 73.1%
Dissatisfied 15.9 40.0 31.2 26.9
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (132) (80) (93) (305)
2

X = 15.964; DF = 2; p (.001; 5': °325°

172

‘These findings point out that skill level and
actual place of work are both factors in satisfaction with
the physical setting of work. To test this hypothesis,
skill level was controlled by department, which coincided
with the actual physical location of work. The experimental
department was located in a large "L" shaped building with
only one partition which did not reach up to the ceiling.
The production department, composed of machine operators,
was located in a huge building with other departments with
no partition dividing them. Finally, the two assembly
lines ran parallel to each other in the same building.
Facing the walls and backed by a tall complex of mechanical
equipment for the transfer of body and mechanical units
(under a low saw—tooth shaped ceiling), the atmosphere of
the assembly lines appeared somewhat more intimate than
the other departments.

Table 48 presents the distribution of satisfied
workers according to their skill levels and departments.
The least satisfied were in the production department.
Unskilled workers of this department were more satisfied
than their semiskilled workmates, although the difference
was not significant. Both semiskilled and unskilled
workers in this department differed significantly from
workers of their same skill level in other departments.
Semiskilled workers in the production department were much
less satisfied than semiskilled workers in the experimental

department.l Similarly, unskilled workers in production

 

1X2 = 9.578; DF = 1; p <.005; E = .637.

173

 

 

 

 

 

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174

were less satisfied than unskilled workers on the assembly
lines.1 This points to the lesser role which skill plays
for the satisfaction with workplace in the production
department.

As expected, there were no significant differences
between the two assembly lines. In the experimental
department, impact of skill was revealed, for skilled
workers were less satisfied than the semiskilled workmates.
The reason may be that workers of higher skill were less
prone to tolerate unpleasant features of the physical
environment, and more likely to prefer working in a more
intimate craft—like shop. The analysis of the reasons they
gave when evaluating their work environment tended to
support this hypothesis.

These reasons were classified in four substantive

categories pertaining to: l) the physical dimensions of

 

the workshop, 2) the clean-dirpy physical environment,

3) the airflow or ventilation, 4) lighting, heatingiand
noise. Another category included all the vague or not

pertinent answers.

The distributions of these reasons are presented
in Table 49. The figures show that ventilation yielded
considerable more unfavorable than favorable responses,
while cleanliness of environment showed a reverse trend.

This means that lack of ventilation is more a factor for

 

1X2 = 11.422; DF = 1; p (.001; E = .356.

175

dissatisfaction than good ventilation for satisfaction.
Poor ventilation was cited by more than half of the workers
and was the largest source of dissatisfaction.1

Table 49. Reasons for liking and disliking workplace
in percentages.

 

 

 

Reasons Likes Dislikes Total
Workshop
Dimensions 15.8 15.8 15.8

Clean—Dirty
Environment 29.9 7.3 23.8

Airflow and

Ventilation 9.0 53.7 21.1
Lighting, Noise
and Heating 13.6 18.3 14.9
Vague Answers 31.7 4.9 24.4
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (221) (82) (303)

 

X2 = 87.622; DF = 4; p (.001.

A clean environment was, on the other hand a source
of satisfaction, for it constituted over one-fourth of the
positive evaluations. Other aspects, such as lighting,

heating, noise, and workshop dimensions, were equally mentioned

 

1Probably the lack of adequate ventilation created
a negative morale side-effect in terms of feelings of
psychological oppression. "We don't breathe" ("Non si
respira”) was a comment which carried such a connotation.
However, in general, comments were very specific: "The
air is unbreathable, we need fans" ("L'aria é irrespirabile,
ci vogliono reppiratori (sic) d'aria").

 

176

as sources of positive or negative evaulation of the

physical environment. There were, of course, differences
according to skill level and type of occupation. Skilled
workers emphasized the large dimensions of the building as

a source of dissatisfaction (50% of all unfavorable comments).
Semiskilled and unskilled workers pointed most often to

lack of ventilation as a source for disliking the work-

place (60% of all unfavorable comments). And workers in
trade—type occupations showed more concern for a clean
environment than those in job—type occupations.

Before leaving the subject of satisfaction with the
physical work environment, let us examine whether a long
period of industrial seniority had an impact on workplace
satisfaction. Industrial seniority was operationalized in
terms of years of industrial background from age of first
employment. We expected workers with longer seniority to
be more satisfied with the physical work environment than
those with shorter seniority. Adjustment to the industrial
environment, we reasoned, was more likely to occur among
those longest exposed to it. Table 50 does not confirm
this reasoning. In fact, those workers who started their
industrial occupational life at 14 years of age or before,

were less satisfied than those who started later.l Those

 

lWhen control for company seniority and age is

simultaneously introduced in the association between
occupational background, age of first employment, and satis-
faction with workplace, the proportions of satisfied workers
are not dissimilar to those of Table 50. However, longer
company seniority and age are associated with feelings of
dissatisfaction.

177

with longer seniority seemed more tired than adjusted to

the industrial workshop.

Table 50. Workers satisfied with work place according to
occupational background and age of first employ-

 

 

 

 

 

ment.
Occupational . a .
Industrial Non Industrial
Background
Total
Age of First 14 years More than 14 years More than
Employment or less 14 years or less 14 years
Satisfaction
with work—
place
Satisfied 66.6% 82.1% 73.6% 78.0% 73.1%
Dissatisfied 33.4 17.9 26.4 22.0 26.9
'Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (126) (56) (72) (50) (304)
a

X2 = 4.550; DF = 1; p (.05; E = .245.

Satisfaction with the Social
Setting of Work

 

 

Satisfaction with the social setting of the work
environment was ascertained with the question "Are you
satisfied or not with the daily contacts you have with your

fellow workers?". The distribution of answers was as

 

follows:
Satisfied 85.9%
Neither satisfied
nor dissatisfied 11.8
Dissatisfied 2.3
' 100.0

(306)

178

The high degree of satisfaction (85%) with
workmates shown by these figures had to be expected be-
cause very few workers tolerate complete isolation or con-
stant feelings of dissatisfaction with their fellow workers.
Among the respondents there was only a handful (2.3%)
who felt open hostility toward their workmates but one-
tenth were neither completely satisfied nor dissatisfied.

Which factors account for the feelings toward
workmates?l As already mentioned, this area was tapped
by attempting to assess the amount of interaction required
by the technical definition of job task and the interaction
which takes place for only social reasons. These were
called "technical interaction" and "social interaction."

Table 51 displays data on the relation between the
amount of technical interaction on the job and the satis-
faction with workmates. The relationship, although not
statistically significant, appears to be curvilinear.
Similarly, an opposite type of curvilinear relationship
was suggested by other data on social interaction and work-
mate satisfaction. The curvilinearity of the data suggests
that both isolation and too many contacts on the job are
likely to foster dissatisfaction with workmates. In

sociological terms, this means that a workteam composed of

 

1Among all occupational and socio—demographic
variables only rural-urban residence showed a statistically
significant association with workmate satisfaction. Fathers'
and grandfathers' major occupation were also associated
with workmates satisfaction, as we shall see below.

179

one to five members closely interacting mainly for technical
reasons is likely to foster more feelings of satisfaction

with workmates than do larger work groups or isolated work.

 

 

 

Table 51. Degree of satisfaction with workmates according
to amount of technical interaction required by
the job.

Amount of Satisfied Dissatisfied
Technical with with Total (N)

Interaction Workmates Workmates

No interaction 81.4% 18.6% 100.0% (91)

Interaction

with one to
five work-
mates 89.6 10.4 100.0 (144)

Interaction

with more

than five

workmates 85.7 14.3 100.0 (42)

 

X2 = 3.106; DF = 2; .20 < p (.30.

This has to be judged within the context of the
technological structures of the automobile industry.
Technical interaction with one to five workmates is most
likely to occur on the assembly lines. And because assemblers
cannot move freely, as workers in the experimental depart-
ment, technical interaction represents the only opportunity
they have for social behavior on the job. This situation
does not apply to isolated machine operators1 and to workers

in the experimental department.

 

1The technical interaction of machine operators

tends to be limited to machine setters, although some interact

180

On the other hand, other data suggest that social
interaction, when restricted to a few individuals, may
create more dissatisfaction with workmates than interaction
based on technical requirements or social interaction with-
in large groups. Here, other factors may be operating.
First, social interaction in an automobile plant tends to
be of limited range, and hence does not allow the worker
much freedom to choose people with whom to interact. When
choice is possible, as in the case of workers who are
interacting with more than five workmates, satisfaction
tends to become enhanced. Second, social interaction with—
in a small group may focus more on political and union affairs
than might be the case within larger work groups, thus
becoming more a source of dissatisfaction than satisfaction.
In fact, political conversation on the job is always
considered in Italy a source of personal troubles. A
clue to this was given by a comment by one of the satisfied
workers: “As long as we don't talk politics, we are a

very integrated group."l

 

"technically" with from one to three workers. HOwever, the
fact that machine operators may contact more fellow workers
within a wider work space than assembly workers, decreases
the importance of technical interaction as a source of
satisfaction with workmates.

l"Se non pgrliamo di politica, siamo una squadra
affiatata." That politics is "dirty" (sporca) and hence
it should be left to professional politicians is a tradition—
al Italian belief which was encouraged by the ruling classes
and particularly by the Fascist dictatorship. However, in
recent years, political conversation is practiced by one-
third of the adult population, and it represents the most
influential means of political communication. Cf. Paolo
Ammassari, "Opinione Politica e Scelta Elettorale," in A.
Spreafico and J. La Palombara, Elezioni e Comportamento
Politico in Italia, Comunita, Milano, 1963, pp. 733-79.

 

181

Within the strongly differentiated Italian ideological
context, discussion of union and political matters is likely
to degenerate into arguments and disputes. The presence
of workers with convictions of the extreme left or right
is likely to turn social interaction to political matters.
An indication of this appears in the distribution of
satisfied workers according to their union and political
orientationl (Table 52). Those workers who have more
extreme political orientations, either radical or conser-
vative, are comparatively more dissatisfied with their
workmates than workers who are politically oriented toward
a moderate and center position. Evidently, extreme union
and political orientations decrease the opportunities for
casual social interaction and increase the likelihood of
unsatisfactory relationships.2

In fact many workers like to avoid discussions of
political matters to escape an ideological commitment which
could expose them either to the reprisals of an allegedly
conservative management or to the carpings of their leftish
fellow workers. Thus, an apathetic or moderate political
orientation is more likely to permit satisfactory social

relatiOns on the job, as Table 52 shows.

 

lUnion orientation and political ideology are
directly associated in Italy. See Chapter IV, and for
details on the left—center-right categories, Chapter IX.

2Franca Magistrettilunsdocumented the role played
by politics in group acceptance. See "Sociological Factors
in the Structurings of Industrial Workers' Teams," American
Journal of Sociology, LX, 6 (May, 1955), pp. 536-40.

 

182

Table 52. Satisfaction with workmates according to union
and political orientation.

 

 

 

 

Union and Satisfied Dissatisfied
Political with with Total
Orientation Workmates Workmates
Left 21.4% 32.6% 22.9%
Center 45.8 32.5 44.0
Right 18.7 27.9 20.0
Apathetic
Workers 14.1 7.0 13.1
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (262) (43) (305)
X2 = 6.512; DF = 3; .05 < p (.01; E": .196.

In this situation, the workers who are most con—
cerned with union and political affairs may become dis-
contented. In fact, as Table 53 shows, workers with medium
and high union involvement were more dissatisfied with
their workmates than workers with low involvement. Dis-
satisfaction was also greater for those who came from
families traditionally in industrial occupations. It must
have been difficult for some workers whose grandfathersl
and fathers2 had told them about the traditional avant-
garde political role of the Turinese industrial working

class to accept the less class-conscious orientation of the

new labor force.

 

lGrandfather's major occupation in industry and dis-
satisfaction with workmates are associated with X2 = 5.299;
DF = l; p (.05; E = .221.

2Father's major occupation in inudstry and dissatis—
faction with workmates are associated with X = 5.587:
DF = 1; p (.05; E'= .214.

183

Table 53. Workers' satisfaction with their workmates
according to levels of union involvement.

 

 

 

 

Level Dissatisfied Satisfied
. with with Total (N)
of Union
Workmates Workmates
Involvement
Low 7.8% 92.2% 100.0% (43)
Medium and High 16.7 83.3 100.0 (262)
2

X = 4.212; DF = 1; p (.05; E = .187.

Conclusions

 

Turinese automobile workers seemed to be generally
satisfied with the industrial workshop environment. Our
investigation of their attitudes toward the physical setting
of work showed that only one-fourth of them were not com-
pletely satisfied. The discontented pointed primarily to
the lack of sufficient ventilation. The satisfied appre—
ciated a clean workplace more than anything else. Thus,
as Herzberg and his associates found in investigating
aspects of work satisfaction,l some factors played a greater
role as sources of satisfaction than of dissatisfaction, and
vice versa.

Probably the most interesting finding is the negative
association between satisfaction with workplace and skill
level. Contrary to findings in other aspects of worker
satisfaction, the skilled workers seemed more dissatisfied

than the unskilled workers. Similarly, workers on the

 

lFrederick Herzberg, et al., The Motivation to Work
(New York: Wiley, 1959), p. 81.

 

184

assembly lines were the Egg; satisfied with workplace.

Another unexpected finding was that adjustment to
the physical environment of industry is not likely to in-
crease with industrial seniority. On the contrary, longer
service favored feelings of dissatisfaction with physical
conditions.

This study showed that the great majority of workers
were satisfied with daily contacts with their workmates.

A minority were not completely satisfied, but only a very
few actively disliked both their fellow workers and the
social environment on the job. An intermediate amount of
interaction required by the job seemed to foster more
satisfaction with workmates than no technical interaction
at all or a great amount of it. Moreover, interaction not
required by the job, when limited to a small group, tended
to be more of a source of dissatisfaction than satisfaction.
Evidently, the opportunity for a wide range of social inter—
action permits greater selectivity of workmates, thus in—
creasing feelings of satisfaction.

The ideological dimension seemed to play a role in
the pattern of social relations on the job. Workers with
higher union involvement were less satisfied with their work—
mates than those with lower union involvement. Also workers
with extreme political orientations tended to be more dis-
satisfied than the politically apathetic or moderate. The
same appeared to be the case for workers who came from

families with a longer industrial tradition, for they too

185

were more dissatisfied with workmates than workers with
more recent industrial origins.

An index of worker satisfaction was constructed,
giving scores from 0 to 1 to answers to the first question
pertaining to workplace satisfaction, and scores from 0 to
2 to answers to the second question concerning satisfaction
with workmates. The distribution of scores on the index
showed that only three workers disliked both their work-
place and their daily contacts with workmates, and that two—

thirds were satisfied with both aspects.

 

lRural residents tended to be more satisfied with

workmates, although the association between residence and
the index of work-environment satisfaction was not statisti-
cally significant (X2 = 3.229; DF = 1; .05 < p (.10).

PART III: WORKER SATISFACTION AND SOCIAL LIFE
CHAPTER VIII
SOCIAL ASPECTS OF OCCUPATIONAL LIFE: UNIONISM

One of the early criticisms of the "human relations"
school was its failure to take into account union life.
Fortunately later investigations of work satisfaction have
contemplated this area as one of the main foci of inquiry.1
In this study, unionism represents an important aspect of
the worker's social life which links his social and ideo-
logical environments (see Figure 1).

Several dimensions of union life will be considered:
union interest, union involvement, and the modalities of
union ideological orientations. Each of these variables
will be assessed in its relationship to the levels of worker
satisfaction. Here two assumptions are made. Union life,
as well as other social aspects of occupational activity,
is not considered as a main component in the pattern of

worker satisfaction. Instead, unionism is viewed as an

 

1The two studies more relevant to the present area

of investigation are Charles R. Walker and Robert H. Guest,
The Man on the Assemblerine (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1952), and A. Zaleznik, C. Christensen,
and F. J. Roethlisberger, with G. Homans, The Motivation,
Productivity and Satisfaction of Workers (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1958).

 

186

187

aspect in itself, which can be considered either as depen—
dent or independent variable.

The second assumption is that union life would be
a dependent variable with respect to work life. This assump-
tion is mainly heuristic: an analysis of union life as an
independent factor will require a much broader investigation
which cannot be undertaken here. Although related to occu-
pational life, unionism is seldom felt by the worker to be
a ubiquitous segment of his work—life. Unless he is an
active volunteer union official, the union is not an in-
tegral part of his work life.1 This is particularly true
in the Italian context, because of the multiplicity of
union organizations which reinforce the conception of the
union either as a service or as a political activity.
Moreover, the incidence of union membership is so low that
to include the union as a fundamental aspect of worker
satisfaction would be more tenuous than the assumption
we have made here.

If unionism is to be considered a sphere distinct
from work life, the next decision is to consider to what
extent the former is dependent on the latter. This decision

can be made on grounds of the empirical evidence or as an

 

lSee William H. Form and H. Kirk Dansereau, "Union
Member Orientations and Patterns of Social Integration,”
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 11, 1 (October, 1957),
pp. 3-12; and, for a review of the literature, William
Spinrad, ”Correlates of Trade Union Participation: A
Summary of the Literature," American Sociological Review,
April, 1960, pp. 237-44.

188

arbitrary starting point for analysis. However, if the main
focus of the investigation is worker satisfaction, it seems
legitimate, unless contradicted by the data, to consider
the latter as independent with respect to the union.

In addition, we believe that the orientation of the worker
toward his occupation is influenced by his general social
orientations, so that ultimately the relationship between
work—life and unionism tends to reflect the common dependence
of these two variables on his general social orientations.
However strong the impact of Italian culture and society
on unionism (see Chapter III), the worker's general
orientation to social life exerts its major impact on the

1 . . . . . . .
work sphere, hence giv1ng it a priority over unionism.

Union Interest and Involvement

Turinese automobile workers considered unions as
an important aspect of their occupational life. In fact,
very few workers judged unions as not necessary (6%), while
the great majority (86%) viewed unions as a necessary aspect
of their work life.2 Two—thirds evaluated unions favorably

and only one-eighth were unfavorable.3

 

1This does not exclude that some aspects of the work
sphere such as technology, exert an impact on the social
world-view.

2Another 6% were indifferent, and 2% did not answer
the question.

3The remaining one-fifth were indifferent or un—
decided as to how to evaluate.

189_

These positive attitudes toward unionism as an
important institution of industrial life were reflected
in the interest of workers in union problems. Seven-tenths
of them expressed some interest in union problems, and only
the remaining three-tenths declared they were "not at all"
interested. Yet, despite the fact that only few workers
(5%) mentioned union affairs as a usual topic of conversa-
tion and no more than one—tenth admitted they read union
news, the workers were interested in union matters. An
Index of Union Interest was constructed by assigning scores
to responses indicating union interest. The following

distribution was obtained:

Low interest (0) 29.0%
Medium interest (1) 25.7
High interest (2) 28.0
Very high interest (3-5) 17.3
100.0%
(300)

Levels of union interest were found to be positively
associated with seniorityl and with education.2 Union
interest was also associated with skill levels, types of
occupations and age; although not at the level of statistical
significances. Workers who preferred industrial or craft
occupations were significantly more interested in union
problems than workers who preferred agricultural or service

occupations.3 This undoubtedly reflects the general tendency

 

1X2 15.500; DF = 6; p <.02;‘E = .283.

2X2 = 13.276; DF = 3; p (.01; 5': .280.

3X2 p (.05; .356.

0|
u

18.355: DF

ll
\0

190

of industrially oriented workers to consider unionism as an
important area of their lives, and for farmers, who are
seldom unionized, to be less attracted to union matters.
The same is probably true for service occupatkpns,
particularly in a less mature industrial society like Italy.
The effects of worker satisfaction on the level of
union interest are shown in Table 54. The figures show that
dissatisfied workers were more interested in union affairs
than satisfied workers. However the relationship is not
linear, for satisfied workers tended to be polarized, tend—
ing to have either low or high interest. An explanation
for this situation cannot be simply derived from compensa-
tory or balance theory,l unless some qualifications are
advanced. It may be that, the dissatisfied worker, in
contrast with the satisfied, seeks by becoming interested
in union affairs to integrate his occupational life.2
However, as Table 54 shows, the main difference between
satisfied and dissatisfied workers-arisesfrom the greater

proportion of satisfied workers who are completely disin-

terested in union problems. This suggests that while the

 

lNor, for that matter, in the theory that work dis-

satisfaction and alienation necessarily induce union and
political apathy, at least at the level of "interest." See,
contra, Dwight G. Dean, ”Alienation and Political Apathy,"
Social Forces, March, 1960, pp. 185—189.

2Because of the presence of the allegedly company
sponsored union (SIDA), union interest may also be a way
of becoming better integrated into the company.

191

 

 

 

 

 

Table 54. Worker satisfaction and union interest.
Index Of Index of WOrker Satisfaction
Union Total
Interest Low High
Low 19.7% 32.3% 28.9%
Medium 38.3 21.7 26.1
High 42.0 46.0 45.0
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N)a (81) (217) (298)
2

X = 9.651; DF = 2; p (.01; 6': .259.

aSubtotals vary from those of other tables because
of different cut-off points between "high" and "low" categories.
satisfied worker can afford to be disinterested in issues
raised by the union, the dissatisfied worker tends to feel
that the resolution of these issues may remove the sources
of his dissatisfaction. This is particularly true in the
Italian context, where especially the Marxist union identifies
the inevitable problems which stem from technological and
organizational imperatives of industrialism as faults of the
management, which the union invites the worker to fight.1
This does not necessarily imply that dissatisfaction in-
evitably turns workers toward Marxist unions, although

there are more left oriented workers among the dissatisfied

workers.

 

1See the assessment of FIAT situation by the communist
authors Adalberto Minucci and Saverio vertone, Il Grattacielo
nel Deserto, Editori Riuniti, Rome, 1960.

 

192

Interest in union affairs is not directly con—
verted into union participation. However the association
between union interest and union involvement is extremely
high.1 An Index of Union Involvement Was constructed by
giving different;scoresto several questions pertaining to
union membership, degree of union activity, knowledge of
names of the members of the Internal Commission (see
Chapter III),decisions to vote in next union elections, and
so on. The distribution of scores into low, medium, and

high was as follows:

Low (0,1,2) 25.9%
Medium (3,4) 64.5
High (5,6) 9.7
Total 100.0%
(282)

This distribution reflects the relatively low
union membership and participation among Turinese auto—
mobile workers. As pointed out in Chapter III, while almost
all the workers vote in the elections for the grievance
committees members and thus express a union choice, very
few actually join a union. Estimates of membership by
the various unions in FIAT were 17—18%.2 In our sample,
only 12.4% indicated they were members. However, another
23% admitted they were members in the past. As to union

participation, almost two-thirds never attended union '

 

1X2

2See Giuseppe Bonazzi, Alienazione a Anomia nella

Grande Industria, Avanti, Rome, 1964, p. 126.

= 167.903; DF - 9; p (.001; E'= .727.

193

meetings, and only a little more than half of these admitted
ever having paid dues, and remembered how much they.were.
Many reasons account for this situation. The liter-
ature on this subject stresses (see Chapter III) that
recent Italian industrial unions were created almost from
the top down by political parties, that only very recently
has the Italian industrial worker earned enough to spare
money for union dues, that unions have never achieved an
effective control over the labor market, nor have they
been able to secure jobs to the unionized worker. Other
reasons are.traced to the fear that union commitment
reveals an ideological commitment which in turn may lead
to management reprisal or even trouble with the police.
undoubtedly,.the newness of the industrial
labor force and the presence of many rural and southern
workers (see Chapter III) reinforce union apathy. On
the other hand, the so—called "working-class aristocracy,”
composed of older industrial workers who are highly skilled
and who now earn relatively high wages do not now constitute
the main reservoir of active unionism.
All this combines to create a definite pattern which
may at first, appear to have contradictory elements. In

fact, this is due to the rapid transformations of the

 

1This proportion of members paying their dues is
only slightly higher than some estimations made by the CISL
official in Turin (40-45%). ”Cf. waiter GalenSon, Trade
Union Democracy in Western Europe (Berkeley, Calif.:
University of California Press), p. 2.

194

Italian industrial scene during these last years, and to the
efforts of an allegedly pro-management local union. In
fact, FIAT management, after the difficult post-war

period, succeeded in an intensive campaign to deunionize

its shops, and to sharply decrease the early widespread
strength of the Marxist union. Since 1955, when CGIL

finally lost the control of the Commissione Interna,

 

management has played an increasingly greater role in
union politics. The rise of SIDA (formerly LLD), and the
shifting policy of supporting UIL gave management a way of
controlling the shifts in union power.

Thus, the old Turinese industrial workers restrained
their union activities and the new uncommitted workers
changed their union orientations according to the shifting
management policies. Our findings tend to support the assoc-
iation between regional origin and union involvement.2
Contrary to expectations, Turinese-born workers were little
involved in union activities, and workers from the South
were more involved than any other.3

Furthermore, union involvement was highly associated

. . . . 4 .
w1th union orientation. The most involved workers were

 

1This is widely recognized by almost all Italian
and American authors. See the Item ”FIAT" in the indices in
the Bibliography cited in Chapter III.

2X2 = 19.647; DF = 6; p (.01; E'= .326.

Mean scores were: 2.54 for southern-born workers,
2.13 for Turinese—born workers, and 2.06 for northern-born
workers.

4X2 = 43.842; DF = 12; p (.001; 5': .425.

195

not those oriented toward the Communist union, usually the
most active, but workers allied with SIDA.l This was
obviously due to the fact that involvement in Marxist union
organizations was certainly not the best way to secure one's
job and make a career in the company. As the Marxist union
claimed, to be involved in unions which are approved by
management is one way to gain that job security which no
union can guarantee. In fact union involvement turned out
to be associated with past unemployment.2 Those workers
who had experienced some unemployment before their job at
FIAT were noticeably more involved in union activities than
those who never experienced unemployment.

The relation of worker satisfaction to union involve—
ment follows the curvilinear pattern found for union inter-
est. Thus, data in Table 55 show that satisfied workers
were either little involved or highly involved in union
activities, while dissatisfied workers tended to be more
concentrated in the medium level of union involvement.

The reasons for these findings may be the same as
those discussed in connection with union interest. However,
there are some differences between interest and involvement.

In fact, at the higher levels, involvement implies behavior

 

1Mean scores were: apathetic 1.57, left 1.98,
center-left 2.31, center 2.11, right 2.63.

2X2 = 11.891; DF = 3; p (.01; c = .275. This
association is particularly significant in view of the fact
that no other variable was found associated with amount
of unemployment.

196

Table 55. Worker satisfaction and union involvement.

 

 

 

 

 

Index of Index of Worker
Union Satisfaction Total
Involvement Low High

Low 15.8% 29.4% 25.6%

Medium 76.3 60.2 64.7

High 7.9 10.4 9.7
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

(N)a (76) (201) (277)
2 is

X = 6.624; DF = 2; p (.05; E'= .05.
aSee footnote of Table 54.

like active membership and holding positions of responsi-
bility within union organizations. very likely such behavior
will have an impact on-the worker's satisfaction. In

this case, the tendency of satisfied workers to be more
involved may be due to the fact that their satisfaction is
more dependent on their union involvement than vicefversg.
Whatever the case, the difference at the highest level of
union involvement, between low and high satisfied workers

(2.5%), does not permit to arrive at definite conclusions.

The Ideological Enyironment

As we early anticipated, a complete range of ideo-
logical orientations characterizes the Italian union front.
Although the worker does not greatly get involved in union
affairs, he is likely to have established commitments to
certain unions. 'How much these commitments are of an ideo—

logical and political nature or of economic and occupational

197

character is a question which calls for an empirical
answer.

Although only one-tenth of the workers were members
of a union, two—thirds had already decided on the union
to vote for in the next election. This allegiance was not
a temporary one, nor the consequence of union electoral
activity at the time. In fact, almost two-thirds of those
who had selected a union to support had selected that union
more than five years ago.1 Furthermore, for the approach-
ing election almost all of them had no difficulty in
choosing a union, and while the reasons for such a choice
varied, one-third chose their union for an ideological or
political reason, against only one per cent who chose the
unions because "they were free from political ties."
Among the undecided workers, one-half were not yet con-
vinced of the merits of unions, and one-fifth had never
been interested in choosing any one of them.2

If, then, two-thirds of the workers had long
committed themselves to a specific union, and half of these
expressly declared their commitment in line with their
ideological or political positions, how did they conceive

the function of unions? Did in-plant concerns have

 

1This means that 40 percent of the total sample
were already committed to a union for more than five
years.

2These two groups represented respectively 15 and
16 percent of the total sample. Another 5% did not want to
answer the question.

198

priority over social and political motivations, or did the
union contest reflect the societal political conflict within
the industrial arena, as has so often been observed?

In order to answer this question, the workers were
asked to select one of the following statements which best
described the most important function of the union:

1. To promote higher wages

2. To promote better working conditions

3. To organize workers so that they
feel socially united

4. To change the social and political
system

A plurality of the workers (two-fifths) chose ”to
promote higher wages,” almost one—third focused on better
working conditions, one-sixth pointed to the organizational
function, and only a few (5%) declared the main function as
promoting social and political change.1 Together, the third
and fourth items (which more closely relate to ideological
and political concerns) did not account for more than one-
fifth of the workers' choices. This proportion repre—
sents what is left of the old guard traditional Turinese
automobile unions still faithful to the broader political
concerns of the Italian labor movement. All of them were
not of leftish persuasion, but the majority of them were

in fact of center and left of center orientations, with

even a few (12%) of right and extreme right orientations.2

 

1"Don't know" and ”no answer" were 5.6% of the total.

2The same distribution was obtained for the fourth
item alone.

199

The above data indicate that the union commitments
discussed above were not essentially of an ideological
character. To be sure, even the most politically-minded
union would not proclaim its primary functions to be social
and political change, so that it is theoretically possible
that choices of the first two items might represent choices
of ideological commitment. However, this is not likely to
be the case for the majority of the workers.

The functions of the union were appraised differently
by single and married workers.2 The latter understandably,
were more oriented toward the promotion of higher wages,
while single workers focused more on the promotion of better
working conditions and on the organizational functions.
However, with respect to the item on social and political
change, there was no difference.

Age was associated with choices of union's function.3
Younger workers were more concerned with working conditions,
middle-age workers with higher wages, while older workers
chose social and political changes more frequently than
anybody else. This was a consequence of several factors.

Younger workers were likely to be single4 and less subject

 

l O I

Answers to other questions probing several areas
of union concern supported and were consistent with the
above answers.

2X2 = 10.071; DF

3X2

3; p (.05; 5': .250.

= .306.

o I

20.064: DF

9; p (.05:

4Age and marital status were highly associated:
X2 = 93.538; DF = 3; p (.001; C = .663.

200

to financial pressures. More of the middle-age workers
were married and less concerned with job problems1 than with
seeking wage improvements to support their families.
Among older workers there was a greater proportion of the
old guard, who, as we indicated above, were faithful to the
old labor ideals. Perhaps the sons of craftsmen were still
loyal to the ideal that unions should have a strong
political function, for one—third of those workers who
selected this function were sons of craftsmen. Sons of
industrial workers were, on the other hand, more oriented
toward the organizational and wage functions of unions.
Sons of peasants in accord with findings in Chapter IV,
.focused more on working conditions.2

.The opinion of what should be the most important
function of the union was associated with levels of worker
satisfaction. Table 56 shows that four-fifths of the
satisfied workers were oriented toward a strictly economic
conception of union activity, stressing wages and working
conditions. Although dissatisfied workers also stressed
working conditions, one—third of them, contrasted to one-
fifth Of satisfied workers, chose the organizational and
political functions of unions. Thus unionism as a means to

change the social and political system or as an end to feel

 

1See Chapter VI.

2 . . . . .

Fathers occupation and union 8 function were
significantly associated: X2 = 20.163: DF = 9: p (.05:
C'= .309. ' ‘

201

Table 56. Levels Of worker satisfaction according to
choices of the most important function of

 

 

 

 

unions.
Most Important Worker Satisfaction
. Total
Function of
Unions Low High
To promote higher wages 29.4% 50.0% 46.3%
To promote better working
conditions 37.3 29.5 30.9
To organize workers to
feel socially united 21.6 16.7 17.5
To change the social
and political system 11.7 3.8 5.3
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (51) (234) (285)

 

X2 = 10.119; DF = 3; p (.02; E = .254.

socially united appealed in greater measure to the dissatis-
fied workers. These data tend to support the conclusion
that satisfied workers are more likely to accept the status
ggo, trying to gain the most within the system, while dis—
satisfied workers tend to desire changing conditions with-
in the plant and the larger society.

This protest attitude of the dissatisfied worker
is often used as propaganda by leftish unions. However,
there is no simple and direct association between a socio—
political conception of the union and union orientation.
As mentioned above, not only left oriented workers thought

the primary function of the union was political change.

202

Nonetheless the majority of workers willing to change

the in-plant and societal status guo were.left~oriented.

The same situation appears in the relation between worker
satisfaction and union orientation,1 as seen in Table 57.
Although the association was not statistically significant,
the tendency was for a greater proportion of the dissatisfied
workers to have a left orientation. Yet among the dis—
satisfied and satisfied, the largest proportion were
oriented toward the political center, and no difference
appears between those who are oriented toward the conser-

vative (rightist) direction.

HQIKEI SgtiSfaCtion apngnionism

 

.Italian automobile workers considered unions as an
important aspect of their 0Ccupational and political life.
But the industrial scene was changing: the new labor force
was increasingly oriented toward an economic conception of
the unions, while only the old guard remained faithful to

political unionism. The presence of S.I.D.A., the

 

1we were not able to ascertain the name of the
union to which the worker was affiliated or aligned. Howw
ever, 0n the basis of the answers to many of the questions
tapping union and political areas, it was possible to dif-
ferentiate the workers between: left, left-of-center,
center, right and apathetic. These categories roughtly
correspond to C.G.I.L., C.I:S.L., U.I-L., S.I.D.A., and
non committed members. The latter, however, do vote in
the elections, supposedly for the most management favored
union. For the present analysis, left-of-center and center
orientations were combined- The distribution of these
categories was checked against the last union electoral
returns and with the distribution of those who clearly
expressed a choice of union, and was found to be similar.

203

Table 57. Worker satisfaction and union orientation.

 

 

Worker Satisfaction

 

 

 

Union Total
Orientation Low High
Left 31.4% 21.2% 22.9%
Center 33.4 46.0 43.9
Right 17.6 20.4 19.9
Apathetic 17.6 12.4 13.3
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (51) (250) (301)
2

X = 4.482; DF = 3; .10 < p (.20; E = .172.
ideologically "neutral" union allegedly sponsored by
management, tended to reinforce this new perspective.

The most politically conscious unions tried to inter-
pret workers' dissatisfaction as due to in—plant inequities

and the societal status quo. Involvement in such unions

 

would certainly hurt the worker's job and his company
career. In this situation levels of worker satisfaction
were associated with union interest and union involvement
in a curvilinear fashion. Dissatisfied workers were
interested in union affairs more than satisfied workers,
but they were not greatly involved in union activities.

At the highest level of involvement, in fact, we found a
greater proportion of satisfied than dissatisfied workers.
How much this depended on the satisfactions derived from

union participation, or from the fact that dissatisfied

204

workers avoided participating in any organization was
difficult to ascertain.

Dissatisfaction was easily transformed into a pro-
test against in-plant conditions and larger societal con-
cerns. Satisfaction, on the other hand, tended to foster
interest in higher wages. Satisfied workers did not project
their discontent on the management and society, and were
less likely to be left oriented. Altogether, ideology
played a lesser role than expected, although firm union
commitments over five years suggested that competitive union

politics was still judged by the workers on other standards

than their differential success in dealing with management.

CHAPTER IX
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AND OCCUPATIONAL LIFE

The analysis of the patterns of satisfaction which
the Italian automobile worker derives from his occupational
life would not be complete without examining some of his
social activities beyond work which can be relevant to
those patterns. Among the many possible social activities,
we have selected are those pertaining to the neighborhood,
the local community, and the voluntary associations.

The analysis will be limited to ascertaining to what
extent these activities in environments outside the factory
are related to worker satisfaction. We will not try to
assess the relationship between the world of work and the
world of non—work, nor will it be possible to investigate
which of these worlds is the central life interest of the
worker.1 However, if a high level of worker satisfaction
may be conceived as indicative of work and workplace
interest, the association of out-of—plant social life to

such a satisfaction may provide cues to the relationship

between work and non-work environments.

 

1See Robert Durbin, "Industrial Workers' Worlds:
A Study of the 'Central Life Interests' of Industrial
Workers," Social Problems, January, 1956, pp. 131—142.

205

206

If there is a relationship between the worker's
social activities outside the factory life and his worker
satisfaction, then the link between worklife and social
life can be empirically hypothesized. If this relation—
ship is not established, then the often claimed dichotomy
between the industrial worker as a producer and as a

citizen will remain unchallenged.l

Neighborhood Life

 

With the exception of only a few (4.6%) the workers
liked to live in their local communities. Two—thirds had
been residing in their communities for five years or more,
and only a small minority (6%) had moved in within one year.
When asked whether they would like to continue living in
their neighborhoods or to move, more than two-thirds answered
that they preferred to stay. The other third desired to
move and complained that they did not reside sufficiently
close to work, and did not have adequate public services,
such as transportation.

Life in the neighborhood appeared to be sufficiently
developed and satisfying. Half of the respondents inter—
acted with six or more families of friends or acquaintances,
and one-fifth with 1-5 families. Altogether half of the
workers exchanged visits regularly with neighborhood friends,

and another half had some relatives living in the same

 

le. C. Wright Mills, White Collar (New York:

Oxford University Press, 1951), p. 235 ff.

207

neighborhood.1 The majority preferred to go to the neighbor-

hood movies and take a walk (1a passeggiata) within the

 

boundaries of the neighborhood. Almost half frequented a
bar, inn, or cafe located in the neighborhood, and four—
fifths had wives who shopped mainly in local stores.

Although sufficiently involved in a variety of
personal and social activities within the neighborhood, only
one-third of the workers were disposed to participate in
meetings to discuss the problems of the neighborhood. One-
sixth could not even identify local neighborhood problems.
The majority (60%), however, pointed out various problems:
public services (inadequate street lighting, bad pavement
of streets and sidewalks, irregular or inefficient public
transportations, lack of governmental services such as
local post-office, etc.). The others were concerned with
the need for sanitary and health services (drains, garbage
collection, pharmacies, hospitals, etc.), utilities and
social services.

An Index of Neighborhood Integration was constructed
by assigning scores to the answers given to questions deal—
ing with neighborhood activities and concerns. The distri-

bution of total scores was as follows:

 

1For those living outside Turin (28%), the neighbor-
hood coincided with the Village, unless this was sufficient-
ly large that the worker could identify parts of it as
different neighborhoods.

208

Low (1—7) 29.9%

Medium (8-10) 41.2

High (ll-15) 28.9
100.0%
(291)

These levels of neighborhood integration were not
found to be associated with levels of worker satisfaction.
There was a slight tendency for workers with a medium level
of integration to be more satisfied with their work situation.
It is possible to hypothesize for further studies that low
integrated workers might be as dissatisfied with their world
of work as those highly integrated in their neighborhoods;
the former because they bring to the job their disaffection
for neighborhood life, the latter because they seek satis-

factions outside the plant.

Voluntary Associations

 

Only one—third of the workers were members of
voluntary associations. The majority (78%) of these assoc—
iations were sport, recreational, or educational groups.
One—sixth were affiliated with religious associations, such
as the Catholic Action, and one—eighth were union members.
Excluding membership in union organizations already discussed,
the level of participation was quite low. Only one-fifth
"always? attended associational meetings, another one-
fifth attended most of the time, one—seventh rarely
attended, and a sizeable one-half did not even know when
the meetings were held. Only one-tenth were presently

officials, and a few had been in the past (4%).

209

An Index of Participation in voluntary Associations
was constructed by giving scores from O to 3 to activities
ranging from no membership to holding a position of responsi—
bility in the association. The distribution of collapsed

scores was as follows:

 

Low (0) 58.5%

Medium (1) 22.3

High (2-5) 19.2
100.0%
(301)

When the medium and high categories were combined,
the index of participation in voluntary associations was
associated with the levels of worker satisfaction. As
Table 58 shows, those more active in organizations were
more dissatisfied with their occupational life than workers
who participated less in social organizations.

Table 58. worker satisfaction and participation in voluntary
associations.

 

 

Participation in

 

 

 

Worker Vbluntary Organizations Total
Satisfaction Low High
Low 11.4% 24.8%. 16.9%
High 88.6 75.2 83.1
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (176) (125) (301)
2

X = 9.751; DF = 1; p (.01; E = .288.

210

One may reason that, at least for a certain minority,
associational life represents an outlet for the frustra-
tion experienced in the factory life. However, a better
reason could be that participation in voluntary associations,
which usually are not restricted to working—class people
(such as the Italian Alpine Club, the Catholic Action, the
Pro-Loco Association, etc.) exposes the worker to occupations
different than his own. This could make him aware of the
work life of other occupations or raise his occupational

aspirations, both leading to increased work dissatisfaction.

Community Involvement

Membership in voluntary associations, satisfaction
for living in a certain local community, knowledge of com—
munity problems, and interest in local news indicates the
person's involvement in community life. The Index of
Community Involvement was constructed by scoring these

dimensions and components. The distribution of scores was:

Low (1—3) 38.3%

Medium (4) 41.7

High (5) 20.0
100.0%
(300)

Community involvement naturally reflects the low
level of participation in voluntary associations. However,
in terms of the chosen components, the involvement in
community life appeared higher than expected. Almost seven-

tenths declared to be concerned in local news,1 and

 

lOnly one-eighth of the total sample did not read any
newspaper, while two-fifths were daily readers or subscribers.

211

three—fourths had some opinion about the main community
problems. Among these, the most frequently mentioned was
(as for the neighborhood) the lack of adequate public
services (one—fourth). However, the need for new housing
and schooling received a noteworthy emphasis (one-fifth), and
automobile traffic control drew the attention of almost
one-sixth of the respondents. Other problems concerned
sanitary and health services, price control, law enforcement,
regulation of migration flux, and so on°

_Almost all (94%) of the workers voted in the last
municipal elections. This was expected because of the
traditional Italian high level of electoral participation.
Another indication of the concern for broad communal problems
was the admission by almost three-fourths of the respondents
that they discussed problems with others to clarify their
ideas. One-fourth mentioned as their frequent topic of
conversation (either as first or second mention) political
and economic problems,2 local problems, and current local
affairs.) Furthermore, two-thirds of all workers had some
opinion about the main problems facing the nation. One-
fifth thought control of the inflationary trend or promotion
of higher wages were the most important problems. Problems

of economic development, school system, social and fiscal

 

1Voting in national elections is mandatory.

2These did not include occupational interests, such
as work and wages, which represented the most frequent
.topic (34%).

212

policies, and government stability followed in this
order.

Table 59 presents data concerning the relationship
between levels of community involvement and worker satis—
faction. The association is not statistically significant
but, as in the case of neighborhood integration, a tendency
is discernible. That is, workers with medium community
involvement are more dissatisfied than those with low
or high involvement. This also appeared to be the case
for union interest and involvement (see Chapter VIII);
it is likely that union involvement (through the item
of membership in voluntary associationsl) is responsible
for the curvilinearity of the suggested relationship be-
tween worker satisfaction and community involvement. In
fact, those workers more interested in local political life,
more articulate in their opinion about community problems,
and more sensitive to broader societal interests were union
members and officials.2

However, other factors may operate to make the

relationship curvilinear. One of these might be the

 

1Membership in voluntary associations is a highly
discriminant item of the index of community involvement.

2All union variables were found associated with
community involvement. It is noteworthy that, although
only union membership was taken into account in con-
structing the index, the latter is highly discriminant of
levels of union participation. The mean scores for com-
munity involvement were: 3.45 for union officials,
2.94 for union members, and 2.57 for non-members (X2 =
21.532: DF = 6; p (.01: E'= .330.)

213

Table 59. Worker satisfaction and community involvement.

 

 

Community Involvement

 

 

 

Worker Total
Satisfaction Low Medium ' High
Low 13.4% 21.6% 13.8% 16.9%
High 86.6 78.4 86.2 83.1
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(N) (112) (125) (58) (295)
2

X = 3.386; DF = 2; .10 < p (.20.

conflicting tendencies between social characteristics which
were associated both with worker satisfaction and com-
munity involvement. For instance, younger workers tended
to be satisfied with their work and more highly involved

in community affairs.1 At the same time, urban residents
showed high community involvement2 but were more dissatis—
fied with work life. Thus, while age alone tended to make
the relationship between worker satisfaction and community
involvement linear and positive, residence tended to make
it linear and negative, with the possible over-all effect

a curvilinearity.

 

16.873: DF

>4
II
II

to

p (.05: C = .276.

>4
N
l

- 11.942: DF

ll
0.)

.268.

nl
n

p (.10:

214

Worker Satisfaction and Social Activities

 

The analysis of the relationship between worker
satisfaction and various areas of social life outside the
factory (such as neighborhood integration, participation
in voluntary associations, and community involvement) has
shown that there is little evidence to support the notion
of interdependence between the world of work and the world
of non—work for these Turinese automobile workers. If a
compensatory phenomenon really defines the hypothesized
relationship between the worker's worklife and his social
activities outside the plant,1 this can be traced through
participation in voluntary associations. However, union
involvement which is unquestionably tied to the worklife,
plays a connecting role.

In general, it seems that social activities outside
the factory depended more on personal and social character-
istics of the worker than on his patterns of work satis-
faction. This situation may be peculiar to the Italian
context, because of its stage of industrial development
and its pace of economic change. For centuries neighbor«
hood life in Italy was traditionally patterned. Suddenly
and rapidly, industrial and economic changes have broken

these patterns. Now workers easily cross neighborhood

 

1This notion is essentially psychological in nature
and underestimates the impact of structural, sociological,
and cultural variables.

215

borders, crowd downtown theaters, and watch televisions.
All this has happened since 1955. To this new way of life,
the industrial worker has responded according to his
personal and social characteristics rather than on the basis
of his work experiences. To be sure, these work experiences
may come to have an impact on social activities outside the
factory, but probably not before they are sufficiently
stabilized and patterned.1

That same is true for community involvement.
Satisfied and dissatisfied workers were probably differently
involved in community affairs, but differences in age or
residence modified or nullified the tendency. Involvement
in community affairs seemed to depend more on a complex
of factors such as political and union attitudes, newspaper
reading habits, or interest in associational life, than

directly on the level of worker satisfaction.2

 

lTo renounce neighborhood promenades (the traditional

passeggiata) for watching television programs, or going to
downtown movies, might be related to worker satisfaction
or dissatisfaction only if these patterns of social life
become stably defined as alternative types of leisure
activities and differentially evaluated.

2It is very unlikely that a worker stops to read
local news because he is dissatisfied, or starts this habit
because he is satisfied, and vice versa.

 

CHAPTER X

FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS

The contributions of this study to the theory and
understanding of worker satisfaction are both methodological
and substantive. Form's developmental model of worker
satisfaction called for a shift<xfperspective for studying
the subject. Accordingly, in addition to the common areas
of study (intrinsic job satisfaction, working conditions,
and work associates satisfactions), two new areas were
explored: satisfaction for economic sector of employment
and for type of occupation. Such a perspective permitted
us to focus on some problems rarely investigated, such as
the effects of intergenerational sector mobility on worker
satisfaction and the impact of occupational character-
istics (job versus trade types) on work attitudes.

The analysis of workers' attitudes in each of these
areas confirmed the assumption that worker satisfaction
is not an overall entity but a discrete cluster of attitudes
and feelings. The findings indicate that feelings of
satisfaction and dissatisfaction in selected areas do not
follow the same pattern. Skill level, for instance, is
positively associated with occupational and job tasks
satisfaction, but negatively with satisfaction for the
physical environment at work. Similarly, other standard

216

217

variables such as age, seniority, and residence differed

in the direction and strength of their association in the
several areas of worker satisfaction. The general impli-
cation of this evidence that worker satisfaction cannot

be understood as an overall pattern, but only as an average
of many dimenSions, is that it is dangerous to overgeneralize
the sources of worker satisfactions until the underlying
links between the sources are theoretically clarified.

A major substantive finding was that Italian auto-
mobile workers were not more dissatisfied than their
American or English counterparts. Living and working in
an environment which was not very dissimilar from that
found in more industrially mature countries (as a whole),
the Italian automobile workers displayed the same basic
pattern of feelings and attitudes toward their worklife
which has been found elsewhere. HOwever, societal and
cultural aspects played a noticeable role. Farming tradi-
tions in a country where the main shift from agriculture
to industry occurred only a few decades ago, affected
attitudes toward employment in the industrial sector,
enhancing satisfactions but limiting aspirations.l Other
occupational family traditions showed that the older the

tradition, the stronger the attachment to it. Thus,

 

lAspirations for small-business ownership, similar
to those found by Chinoy in his study (Automobile Workers
and the American Dream (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1955),
Chapter VII), characterized only workers from industrial
or craft family traditions.

 

218

workers coming from families which had been in industry
for only one generation were more likely to be oriented
toward office work and service employment than those from
families with longer industrial traditions. This suggests
that white collar aspirations (hence vertical mobility)
are not fostered by industrial occupational inheritance,
when the industrial sector is expanding in a developing
country.

Having a trade in the highly specialized automobile
industry was a source of satisfaction. However, if the
worker was unable to exercize his occupational qualifica-
tions fully as in the case of many semiskilled workers,
his skills were more a source of dissatisfaction than
satisfaction. Thus the possessions of skills which gave
the worker a potential to move into other occupations,
aggravated problems of adjustment in his present job.

In a developing country where there is a rapid expansion
of the economy and a constant redefinition of industrial
and occupational classifications, occupational level may
not correspond precisely to skilled capacities. In this
case the commonly found association between skill level
and occupational satisfaction may be reduced or may

need qualification.

Satisfaction with job tasks was highly dependent
upon the type of work. Satisfaction was fostered by the
physical and technical conditions of work, while the sources

of dissatisfaction arose from the work's psychological

219

demands. with the exception of age, occupation variables
played a greater role than socio-personal characteristics.

The implication of these findings is already well established:
the worker looks at his job tasks as temporary until either
he is promoted to higher skills or he loses hope of promo-
tion and accepts his assignment as permanent. In the

latter case, either he adjusts to the job tasks or he quits.

Very few workers disliked their physical work—
place, and even fewer disliked their workmates. But among
those who were unhappy with the physical environment there
was a relatively large proportion of skilled workers.
Unexpectedly, skill level was not positively associated
with satisfaction: unskilled workers on the assembly
lines were the most satisfied of all. Another interesting
finding was that adjustment to the physical environment
was not likely to occur with time. On the contrary, length
of service favored dissatisfaction for their physical
conditions.

Satisfaction with workmates varied according to
different patterns of interaction on the job. Inter-
mediate amounts of interaction required by job performance
appeared to foster more satisfaction than no interaction
or a great amount of it. Thus, too little or too much
dependence on workmates for job performance tended to
promote dissatisfaction with such conditions. If confirmed
by further studies, this finding might have great relevance

for designing job descriptions and workteam criteria.

220

Social interaction which was not required by job
performance was, on the other hand, greatly influenced by
the ideological dimension. Extreme political orientations“
and high union involvement appeared associated with dis-
satisfaction with workmates. The strongly differentiated
Italian ideological climate largely accounts for this
finding. Apparently the relatively low class-consciousness
of the recent labor force aggravated many older workers
who were concerned with political and union traditions.

Yet the Turinese automobile workers generally
considered unionism as an important aspect of their occu-
pational lives. However, very few of them converted
their interest into actual union participation. The
peculiar circumstances of Turinese unionism accounted in
part for this situation. Thus dissatisfied workers were
the most interested in union affairs, although they were
not highly involved in union activities. This dissatis—
faction was transformed into a protest against in—plant
conditions and conditions in the larger society. If it is
possible to generalize about the Turinese situation, the
ideological molding of the workers' protest depended as much
on union's interpretations of the causes of dissatisfaction
as on the general attitudes and policies of the management.

Finally ”the big split” was found between worker
satisfaction on one side and neighborhood and community
life on the other. Unionism played a role in connecting

these two worlds, as did other forms of associational

221

life, but it seemed that social activities outside the plant
were more dependent on personal and social characteristics
than on patterns of worker satisfaction. This dichotomy
between work and broader social life may be only a conse-
quence of the rapid changes which Italy is currently under—
going. Changes in many areas of social life are modifying
old patterns of social behavior before new ones become

well established. In such a situation, the connections
between work and broader social life appear differently
patterned by the uneven impact of the industrial develop-
ment.1 The main proposition guiding this study maintained
that the social integration of modern man in various areas
of social life is a function not only of the stage of
industrial development of a society, but also of its pace
of economic changes. Such a pace may undoubtedly account

for varying conditions in different areas of social life.2

 

1However, the simultaneous impact of the industrial—
ization processcxithe occupational structure and on the
system or values was revealed by the association between
occupational satisfaction and a seven items Index of Anomie
(X2 = 5.328; DF = 1; p (.05; c = .207). On the other hand,
basic societal traditional values, such as family-centered
life, appeared to be uninfluenced by broader economic
changes and strictly related to the ideological orientation.
The association between union orientation and a multifacet
Index of Family Centerism was relatively high: X2 = 16.389;
DF = 8; p (.05: C'= .324).

2The final test of this proposition awaits systematic
analysis of various societies in different stages of economic
development.

 

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Walker, C., Guest, R. and Turner, A. The Foreman on the
Assemblnyine. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1956.

 

 

wyatt, S. and Marriott, R. A Study of Attitudes to Factory
Work. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office,
1956.

 

Whyte, William F. Money and Motivation. New York:
Harpers, 1955.

 

Zaleznik, A., Christensen, C. R. and Roethlisberger, F. J.,
with G. Homans. The Motivation, Productivity and
Satisfaction of Workers, a Prediction Stugy.
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1958.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

SAMPLE DESIGN (ABSTRACT)

Non:probability_sample of area under investigation:

Four Departmentsof F.I.A.T. Plant in Mirafiori, Turin.

Probability Sample of individual units:

 

a)

b)

C)

d)

e)

Population: Workers who are in direct relation to

 

machine technology and who work in the manufacturing
of the product in a direct way: N = 3056.

Sampling Unit: The individual worker (one year

 

seniority).

Sample Size: The 10 per cent of total population
of 4 departments: N = 306.

Stratification criteria:

1. Four Departments (different degrees of
technological control).

2. Occupational Level (skilled, semiskilled,
unskilled).

3. Union Orientation (affiliation or voting choice:
four unions).

Allocation to Strata:
On the basis of the distribution of the Union

Orientation variable (last election returns) for
the departments, we computed the average optimum

 

"allocation (William G. Cochran, SamplinggTechniques,

Wiley, 1953, Chapter 5) to the four Departments
for the Union Orientation variable:

 

xDepartments Av. Optimum Allocation
Production Department 107
Assembly Line (I) 72
Assembly Line (II) 59
Experimental Department 62

 

Total N = 300

229

230

This average optimum allocation for Union Orientation
has been distributed proportionally_to the Occupational
Level groups within each Department:

 

Occupational Levels Av. Opt. Allocation

 

 

Dept. Sk. S-sk. Un-sk. for Union Orientation
Production

Dept. 3 18 86 107
Assembly

Line (I) 1 9 62 72
Assembly

Line (II) 1 8 50 59
Experimental

Dept. 35 21 6 62

Totals 40 56 204 300

Of course, if we would have known the distribution in
the population of Union Orientation for Occupational
Levels, the above computations would not have been
necessary, and the stratification design more precise.

At any rate, with the available data,
above obtained were the best allocation of our
sample size to both variables considered.

the marginals

 

Meanwhile,

it was decided not to sample for cells smaller than

25. The resulting final sample design was the

 

 

following:
Occupational Levels .

Dept. Sk. S—sk. Un—sk. Sample Population
Production

Dept. -- 25 82 107 1422
Assembly

Line (I) —- -- 72 72 700
Assembly

Line (II) -— -- 59 59 449
Experimental

Dept. 33 29 -- 62 485
Totals 33 54 213 300 3056

Field work started on February 18,

April 14, 1962.

1962, and completed

Eighteen interviewers were employed in
the course of the interviewing period.
353 sampling units,

The contacted
and obtained 306 interviews.

The

actual "refusals" were 7.3 percent of the total units
contacted, and they did not appear correlated to parti-

cular housing zones,

or workplaces within the factory.

APPENDIX B

SAMPLE DATA

Community of Birth

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turin Commune 69 22.6
Turin Province 77 25.2
Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta 66 21.6
North Italy 50 16.3
Central Italy 6 2.0
South Italy 17 5.6
Sicily and Sardinia 12 3.9
Foreign Countries 6 2.0
No information 3 .9

306 100.0

Communipy of Residence

Turin Commune 220 72.0
Turin Province 86 28.0

306 100.0

Age

20 years and less 10 3.3
21-25 years 30 9.8
26-30 years 79 25.8
31-35 years 61 20.0
36—40 years 40 13.2
41-45 years 22 7.2
46—50 years 27 8.8
51-55 years 18 5.9
55—60 years 14 4.6
61 years and more 3 .9
No information 2 .6

306 100.0

231

232

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

n %
Education
Grammar School (l-5th Grade) 180 58.9
Lower Middle School (6—8th Grade) 78 25.5
Higher Middle School (9-l3th Grade) 46 15.0
No Information 2 .6
306 100.0
Marital Status
Single 74 24.2
Married 232 75.8
306 100.0
Children
No children 63 27.1
1 child 112 48.3
2 children 43 18.5
3 children 8 3.5
4 children 4 1.7
5 children - .0
6 children 2 .9
Total married 232 100.0
Occupational Union Qualification
(Skill Level)
Skilled (Specializzati) 34 11.1
Semiskilled (Qualificati) 58 19.0
Unskilled (Comuni) 214 69.9
306 100.0
Senioripy
12-23 months 4 1.2
2-4 years 118 38.6
5-9 years 75 24.6
10-14 years 42 13.7
15—19 years 30 9.8
20 or over 35 11.5
No information 2 .6
306 100.0

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