The Wildcat Strike Today

Abstract

Italian co-researcher Romano Alquati defined the character of wildcat strikes in his studies during the 1960s of mass industrial labour actions at Fiat and Olivetti. Wildcat strikes were in response to the imposition of new information technologies in the production process, and these job actions sought to bypass both labour and management controls. Over a long period of time and beyond the shores of Italy, wildcat strikes have lost their unpredictable, non-collaborative, and indifference to union and management demands. However, today's wildcats arise within the post-industrial gig economy, and come with a greater degree of autonomy, in predictable, time-stamped forms of protest, but the struggle to regain and liberate time remains the same. This article outlines these changes and agitates for the continuing need for wildcat strikes.