Vol. 14 No. 28 (2024): Rethinking tourism work: bridging gaps, making connections and exploring new frontiers
Monographic Section

Tides of labour. Forms of exploitation and practices of individual resistance in seasonal tourism industry

PDF
  • Nicola Quondamatteo,
  • Francesca Alice Vianello
Nicola Quondamatteo
Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy
Bio
Francesca Alice Vianello
Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/cambio-16676

Published 2025-05-21

Keywords

  • tourism industry,
  • labour exploitation,
  • mobility power,
  • labour market segmentation,
  • tourism companies

How to Cite

Quondamatteo, N., & Vianello, F. A. (2025). Tides of labour. Forms of exploitation and practices of individual resistance in seasonal tourism industry. Cambio. Rivista Sulle Trasformazioni Sociali, 14(28), 71–91. https://doi.org/10.36253/cambio-16676

Copyright (c) 2024 Nicola Quondamatteo, Francesca Alice Vianello

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Funding data

Abstract

This paper investigates seasonal seaside tourism in Eastern Veneto. On one hand, drawing on literature about labour exploitation forms, it examines critical issues and labor standard violations within the sector, focusing on wages, supervision, work rhythms, and segmentation along the lines of gender, migration status, and age. On the other hand, the paper explores individual resistance, particularly through the various exit and quitting strategies employed by workers. This scenario underscores the need to complement individual forms of resistance – recognized as pivotal – with new union interventions and institutional actions to regulate working conditions.

PDF

References

  1. Abbadir, A. (2024). Cgil denuncia lo sfruttamento dei lavoratori in Veneto: È radicato in tutti i settori, Il Mattino di Padova, 24 July.
  2. Ackroyd, S., Thompson, P. (1999). Organizational misbehaviour, London: Sage.
  3. Alberti, G. (2014). Mobility strategies, mobility differentials and transnational exit: the experience of precarious migrants in London’s hospitality jobs, in «Work, Employment and Society», 28, 6, 865-881.
  4. Alberti, G., Iannuzzi, F.E. (2020). Embodied intersectionality and the intersectional management of hotel labour: the everyday experiences of social differentiation in customer-oriented work, in «Gender, Work and Organisation», 27,6, 1165-1180.
  5. Alberti, G., Sacchetto, D. (2024). The politics of migrant labour. Exit, voice, and social reproduction, Bristol: Bristol University Press.
  6. Andrijasevic, R., Sacchetto, D. (2016). From labour migration to labour mobility? The return of the multinational worker in Europe, in «Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research», 22, 2, 19-31.
  7. Baglioni, E. (2018). Labour control and the labour question in global production networks: exploitation and disciplining in Senegalese export horticulture, in «Journal of Economic Geography», 18, 1, 111-137.
  8. Bair, J. (2022). Gendered Labour Regimes in Global Production, in Baglioni E., et al. (eds). Labour Regimes and Global Production. Economic Transformations, Newcastle upon Tyne: Agenda Publishing. .
  9. Bernards, N. (2017). The global politics of forced labour, in «Globalizations», 14, 6, 944-957.
  10. Blee, K.M., Taylor, V. (2002). Semi-structured interviewing in social movement research, in Klandermans, B., Staggenborg, S. (eds.). Methods of social movement research, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  11. Brass, T., Van der Linden, M. (eds.) (1997). Free and unfree labour: the debate continues, Berlin: Lang.
  12. Bullock, K., et al. (2024). Under the radar? Modern slavery and labour exploitation risks for the hotel industry, in «Tourism Management», 102, 104857.
  13. Bürgisser, R., Di Carlo, D. (2023). Blessing or curse? The rise of tourism-led growth in Europe’s Southern periphery, in «Journal of Common Market Studies», 61, 1, 236-258.
  14. Cagnassi, G. (2022). I lavoratori stagionali del Bangladesh: Addio a Jesolo, meglio l’Inghilterra, La Nuova Venezia, 24 May.
  15. Cagnassi, G. (2023). Emergenza personale a Jesolo, gli albergatori guardano all’Egitto, La Nuova Venezia, 17 May.
  16. Cagnassi, G. (2024). Ho fatto domanda per il mio albergo. Ma fissare delle quote limita la crescita. Il Mattino di Padova, 28 March.
  17. Celata, F., Romano, A. (2020). Overtourism and online short-term rental platforms in Italian cities, in «Journal of Sustainable Tourism», 30, 5, 1020-1039.
  18. Çıvak, B. (2021). Otel işletmelerinde emek sömürüsü, tahakküm ve direniş ilişkilerine dair niteliksel bir araştırma [A qualitative research on relations of labour exploitation, domination and resistance in hotel businesses], Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Anadolu University.
  19. Çıvak, B., Besler, S., Sezerel, H. (2024). ‘The door is there!’: the exploitation, domination, consent, and resistance experiences of hotel employees, in «European Journal of Tourism Research», 38, 3814 .
  20. Cole, M., et al. (2024). Wage theft and the struggle over the working day in hospitality work: a typology of unpaid labour time, in «Work, Employment and Society», 38, 1, 103-121.
  21. Corbanese, V., Rosas, G. (2021). Politiche per prevenire e contrastare lo sfruttamento lavorativo e il lavoro forzato in Europa, Politiche per prevenire e contrastare lo sfruttamento lavorativo e il lavoro forzato in Europa (ilo.org).
  22. Davies, J. (2019). From severe to routine labour exploitation: the case of migrant workers in the Uk food industry, in «Criminology & Criminal Justice», 19, 3, 294-310.
  23. Della Puppa, F. (2021). Italian-Bangladeshi in London. A community within a community? in «Migration Letters», 18, 1, 35-47.
  24. Edwards, P.K., Scullion, H. (1982). The social organization of industrial conflict, Oxford: Blackwell.
  25. Ente Bilaterale Nazionale Turismo (2023). Osservatorio sul mercato del lavoro nel turismo. XV Rapporto, https://www.fipe.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/osservatorio-mercato-del-lavoro-turismo-2023_XV-rapporto_copertina.pdf .
  26. Fisascat-Cisl (2024). Turismo, siglata l’intesa con Federalberghi e Faita sul nuovo Contratto Nazionale applicato agli oltre 400 mila lavoratrici e lavoratori del comparto turistico ricettivo alberghiero, dei villaggi vacanza e dei camping [Press Release], Turismo, siglata l’intesa con Federalberghi e Faita sul nuovo Contratto nazionale applicato agli oltre 400mila lavoratrici e lavoratori del comparto turistico ricettivo alberghiero, dei villaggi vacanza e dei camping (fisascat.it).
  27. Fudge, J. (2019). (Re)conceptualising unfree labour: local labour control regimes and constraints on workers’ freedom, in «Global Labour Journal», 10, 2, 108-122.
  28. Garnero, A., et al. (2021). Relazione del gruppo di lavoro sugli interventi e le misure di contrasto alla povertà lavorativa in Italia, Relazione-del-Gruppo-di-lavoro-sugli-Interventi-e-misure-di-contrasto-alla-poverta-lavorativa-in-Italia.pdf.
  29. Gordon, N. (2019). Capitalism, neoliberalism and unfree labour, in «Critical Sociology», 45, 6, 921-939.
  30. Guerrier, Y., Adib, A.S. (2000). ‘No, we don’t provide that service’: the harassment of hotel employees by customers, in «Work, Employment and Society», 14, 4, 689-705.
  31. Hochschild, A.R. (1979). The managed heart. Commercialization of human feeling, Berkeley: University of California Press.
  32. Iannuzzi, F.E. (2021). Assemblare le differenze. Il lavoro nell’industria alberghiera veneziana, Milan: Guerini Scientifica.
  33. Iannuzzi, F.E., Sacchetto, D. (2022). Outsourcing and workers’ resistance practices in Venice’s hotel industry: the role of migrants employed by cooperatives, in «Economic and Industrial Democracy», 43, 2, 877-897.
  34. Iannuzzi, F.E., Sacchetto, D. (2024). Dispositivi insostenibili. L’esperienza delle lavoratrici migranti nel settore turistico, in Giammarinaro, M.G., et al. (eds.). Donne gravemente sfruttate. Il diritto di essere protagoniste. Rome: Edizioni Gruppo Abele.
  35. Ispettorato Nazionale Lavoro (2024). Risultati attività di vigilanza anno 2023, Programmazione delle attività di vigilanza | INL (ispettorato.gov.it).
  36. Istat (2022). Contratti collettivi e retribuzioni contrattuali, Giugno 2010 (istat.it).
  37. Jonas, A. (1996). Local labour control regimes: uneven development and the social regulation of production, in «Regional Studies», 30, 323-338.
  38. Katz, C. (2004). Growing up global. Economic restructuring and children’s everyday lives, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  39. Knox, A. (2007). ‘Lost in translation’: an analysis of temporary work agency employment in hotels, in «Work, Employment and Society», 24, 3, 449-467.
  40. Leonardi, S. (2022). Il “dumping contrattuale” nel terziario. Spunti di analisi da un’indagine comparativa fra Ccnl, in «Rivista giuridica del lavoro e della previdenza sociale», 4, 649-669.
  41. Lerche, J. (2007). A global alliance against forced labour? Unfree labour, neoliberal globalization and the International Labour Organisation, in «Journal of Agrarian Change», 7, 4, 425-452.
  42. Lewis, H., et al. (2014). Precarious lives. Forced labour, exploitation and asylum, Bristol: Policy Press.
  43. Lewis, H., et al. (2015). Hyper-precarious lives: migrants, work and forced labour in the Global North, in «Progress in Human Geography», 39, 5, 580-600.
  44. Longo, V. (2016). Lusso low cost. Vita in crociera sopra e sotto la linea di galleggiamento, Milan: Jaca Book.
  45. Lucifora, C., Vigani, D. (2021). Losing control? Unions’ representativeness, pirate collective agreements, and wages, in «Industrial Relations», 60, 2, 188-212.
  46. Lundberg, H., Karlsson, J.C. (2011). Under the clean surface: working as a hotel attendant, in «Work, Employment and Society», 25, 1, 141-148.
  47. Marini, R.M. (1973). Dialéctica de la dependencia, Mexico City: Ediciones Era.
  48. McDowell, L., Batnitzky, A., Dyer, S. (2007). Division, segmentation, and interpellation: the embodied labors of migrant workers in a Greater London Hotel, in «Economic Geography», 83, 1, 1-25.
  49. Meardi, G. (2007). More voice after more exit? Unstable industrial relations in Central Eastern Europe, in «Industrial Relations Journal», 38, 6, 503-523.
  50. Mitsakis, F., Hadjisolomou, A., Kouki, A. (2024). Customer abuse and harassment in the hospitality industry: the immersion of an everyday workplace crime, in «Current Issues in Tourism», 1-21.
  51. Morad, M., Della Puppa, F., Sacchetto, D. (2021). The dark side of onward migration: experiences and strategies of Italian-Bangladeshis in the UK at the time of the post-Brexit referendum, in «The British Journal of Sociology», 72, 5, 1311-1324.
  52. Mulas, L. (2024). Il mercato del lavoro dipendente nell’economia del mare. Focus sulle principali dinamiche occupazionali e sulle specializzazioni produttive in Veneto, Microsoft Word - 12_Focus economia del mare_def (cliclavoroveneto.it).
  53. Orlandini, G., Meardi, G. (2023). Round table. Implementing the EU Directive on adequate minimum wages in southern Europe: the odd case of Italy, in «Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research», 29, 2, 253-259.
  54. Orth, B. (2024). Stratified pathways into platform work: migration trajectories and skills in Berlin’s gig economy, in «Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space», 56, 2, 476-490.
  55. Papadopulos, O., Lopez-Andreu, M., Jamalian, M. (2021). Violation and lack of awareness of employment rights in the United Kingdom’s hotel industry: isolation, fragmentation and barriers to labour enforcement, in «Industrial Relations Journal», 52, 4, 315-330.
  56. Peterlongo, G. (2023). Nella trama dell’algoritmo. Lavoro e circuiti informali nella gig economy, Turin: Rosenberg & Sellier.
  57. Portella-Carbó, F., Pérez-Montiel, J., Ozcelebi, O. (2023). Tourism-led growth economic across the business cycle: Evidence from Europe (1995-2021), in «Economic Analysis and Policy», 78, 1241-1253.
  58. Portes Virginio, F., Stewart, P., Garvey, B. (2023). Unpacking super-exploitation in the 21st century: the struggles of Haitian workers in Brazil, in «Work, Employment and Society», 37, 4, 897-915.
  59. Quondamatteo, N. (2022). Dentro le navi, il mondo intero. Un’analisi del sistema degli appalti nel caso Fincantieri, in «Quaderni di Rassegna Sindacale», 2, 51-61.
  60. Rigo, E. (2016). Introduzione. Lo sfruttamento come modo di produzione, in Rigo, E. (ed.). Leggi, migranti e caporali. Prospettive critiche di ricerca sullo sfruttamento in agricoltura, Pisa: Pacini Editore.
  61. Rosas, G. (2020). La prevenzione e il contrasto dello sfruttamento lavorativo: un obiettivo globale una sfida nazionale, PowerPoint Presentation.
  62. Rydzik, A., Anita, S. (2020). Conceptualising the agency of migrant women workers: resilience, reworking and resistance. in «Work, Employment and Society», 34, 5, 883-899.
  63. Rydzik, A., Kissoon, C.S. (2022). The shaping of the neoliberal worker: socialisation of young adults through flexible hospitality work, in «Annals of Tourism Research», 97.
  64. Selwyn, B. (2020). Super-exploitation in the Global North and the imperial mode of living, Draft paper. This was written under the Covid-generated constraints (for me) of home-working and home schooling, which means that the paper is even more incomplete than it would have been under more normal circumstances (soc21.nl).
  65. Shapoval, V., et al. (2022). Occupational health and safety of immigrant hotel housekeepers, in «Workplace Health & Safety», 70, 12, 566-573.
  66. Sherman, R. (2011). Beyond interaction: customer influence on housekeeping and room service work in hotels, in «Work, Employment and Society», 25, 1, 19-33.
  67. Silver, B. (2003). Forces of Labour. Workers’ movement and globalization since 1870, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  68. Skrivankova, K. (2010). Between decent work and forced labour: examining the continuum of exploitation, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
  69. Smith, C. (2006). The double indeterminacy of labour power: labour effort and labour mobility, in «Work, Employment and Society», 20, 2, 389-402.
  70. Strauss, K., Fudge, J. (2014). Temporary work, agencies, and unfree labour: insecurity in the new world of work, in Fudge, J., Strauss, K. (eds.), Temporary work, agencies and unfree labour: insecurity in the new world of work. New York: Routledge.
  71. Strauss, K., McGrath, S. (2017). Temporary migration, precarious employment and unfree labour relations: exploring the ‘continuum of exploitation’ in Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program, in «Geoforum», 78, 199-208.
  72. Tassinari, A., Maccarrone, V. (2020). Riders on the storm: workplace solidarity among gig economy couriers in Italy and the UK, in «Work, Employment and Society», 34, 1, 35-54.
  73. Tufts, S. (2007). Emerging labour strategies in Toronto’s hotel sector: toward a spatial circuit of union renewal, in «Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space», 39, 10, 2383-2404.
  74. Veneto Lavoro (2020). Il mismatch nel mercato del lavoro visto dai Centri per l’Impiego, Focus 5.
  75. Veneto Lavoro (2024). Il mercato del lavoro dipendente nell’economia del mare, Focus 12.
  76. Veneto Region (2024). Cavallino Treporti da record. Presidente Veneto, ‘Destinazione che è cresciuta e contribuisce al boom turistico veneto’ [Press Release, no. 763], Article Detail - Regione del Veneto.
  77. Winchenbach, A., Hanna, P., Miller, G. (2019). Rethinking decent work: the value of dignity in tourism employment, in «Journal of Sustainable Tourism», 27, 7, 1026–1043.
  78. Witz, A., Warhurst, C., Nickson, D. (2003). The labour of aesthetics and the aesthetics of organization, in «Organization», 10, 1, 33-54.
  79. Wolkowitz, C. (2006). Bodies at work, London: Sage.
  80. Wright, E.O. (2004). Beneficial constraints: beneficial for whom? in «Socio-Economic Review», 2, 407-414.