From Treadmill of Production to Just Transition and Beyond

Abstract

Drawing on Treadmill of Production (ToP) and Just Transition (JT) theories, the article proposes a comparative analysis of the labour/environment nexus, evident across Europe and epitomized in the case of the Italian industrial relations system. The research shows continuity between ToP and JT. Despite ToP being the dominant logic of collective action during much of the modern (post-Second World War) industrial era, a long wave of JT can be identified from the late 1960s, as Italian union struggles for decent and healthier working environments contributed to making production processes more sustainable for the broader environment and communities far beyond the workplace. This long wave of JT is nowadays reinforced and made more visible by an explicit integration of labour and environmental protection through collective bargaining and social partnerships. In many cases, however, labour and capital interests still prevail over environmental ones and new dimensions of ToP emerge in the JT era.