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Abstract: This paper analyses the introduction of company canteens within the complex manufacturing structure of the Turin-based Fiat group. Our subject can be seen as a representative case-study, since the prominence of the Turin car maker - in terms of its production volumes, its presence on international markets and the special relationship that it enjoys with the city in which it is based - is felt far beyond borders of Italy. This study reconstructs the long gestation period of the company canteens project while taking a closer look at a number of specific issues: trade union demands for the provision of worker’s refectories; considerations on the impact of canteens on the organisational structure of the company; the difficulties encountered in supplanting the traditional worker’s mess tin and tailoring canteen menus to the tastes of workers who, in the 1960s when the canteen system was about to be introduced, came from all over Italy, especially from the south.

Keywords: Company canteens; Factory organization; Labour history; Trade Union history