An old recipe, with a new spice: Union avoidance tactics adopted by organized crime when expanding in new territories

In its territories of origin, organized crime entrenched itself in the local institutional context by either colluding with or (often violently) silencing unions. Criminal organizations are today ‘discreetly’ expanding into new territories, and these tactics no longer fit with the strategy of the so-called ‘silent mafia’ when dealing with trade unions. This article explores the tactics that an Italian criminal organization (‘Ndrangheta) adopted in a new territory in its relations with unions in the labor market and workplace, as part of a broader strategy that ‘Ndrangheta pursued in relating with a wide set of local actors. The longitudinal case study, based on judicial documents and interviews with local informants, shows that the ‘Ndrangheta abandoned traditional tactics. It instead engaged in union avoidance by imitating tactics adopted by legal employers (the ‘old recipe’) made more effective through the violent potential of its criminal nature (a ‘new spice’).