In the recent history of labor relations in Italy, the revival of concertation in the 1990s is widely seen as marking the beginning of a new phase, in which many of the features distinctive of the previous period have been superseded. As a result of the tripartite agreements of the 1990s, labor relations seemed to be moving in the direction of: a) the greater formalization and explicit definition of shared criteria, rules and procedures for representation and for the joint resolution of distributive conflict (incomes policy); b) greater predictability of practices and the close coordination of objectives and outcomes, with a substantial reduction of industrial conflict; c) definition of a more stable and more orderly two-tier bargaining structure – with a centralized level and a decentralized level – and the undertaking of a series of significant reforms (of public-sector employment, of the pensions system, of the labor market) with the participation of the social partners. And yet, by the end of the 1990s, the system proved to be less well-consolidated than foreseen. On the one hand, the factors responsible for the success of centralized concertation either attenuated or disappeared, and the endeavor to create arenas for local-level concertation proved more difficult than expected. On the other hand, again apparent were the shortcomings of weakly institutionalized labor relations substantially entrusted to the logic of agreement between the parties, rather than being regulated by stabilizing measures of legislative type (as instead still happens in Germany). After a brief survey of the traditional characteristics of labor relations and collective bargaining, this chapter discusses the development of tripartism and the concerted regulation of collective bargaining in the 1980s and 1990s. Then it presents the structure and outcome of bilateral collective agreements in the same period. A brief discussion of problems which remain open and of the lesson that can be learned by the Italian experience concludes the chapter.

Collective bargaining and social pacts in Italy / I. Regalia, M. Regini - In: The new structure of labor relations : tripartism and decentralization / [a cura di] H.C. Katz, W. Lee, J. Lee. - Ithaca, NY : ILR press, 2004. - ISBN 0801441846. - pp. 59-83

Collective bargaining and social pacts in Italy

I. Regalia
Primo
;
M. Regini
Ultimo
2004

Abstract

In the recent history of labor relations in Italy, the revival of concertation in the 1990s is widely seen as marking the beginning of a new phase, in which many of the features distinctive of the previous period have been superseded. As a result of the tripartite agreements of the 1990s, labor relations seemed to be moving in the direction of: a) the greater formalization and explicit definition of shared criteria, rules and procedures for representation and for the joint resolution of distributive conflict (incomes policy); b) greater predictability of practices and the close coordination of objectives and outcomes, with a substantial reduction of industrial conflict; c) definition of a more stable and more orderly two-tier bargaining structure – with a centralized level and a decentralized level – and the undertaking of a series of significant reforms (of public-sector employment, of the pensions system, of the labor market) with the participation of the social partners. And yet, by the end of the 1990s, the system proved to be less well-consolidated than foreseen. On the one hand, the factors responsible for the success of centralized concertation either attenuated or disappeared, and the endeavor to create arenas for local-level concertation proved more difficult than expected. On the other hand, again apparent were the shortcomings of weakly institutionalized labor relations substantially entrusted to the logic of agreement between the parties, rather than being regulated by stabilizing measures of legislative type (as instead still happens in Germany). After a brief survey of the traditional characteristics of labor relations and collective bargaining, this chapter discusses the development of tripartism and the concerted regulation of collective bargaining in the 1980s and 1990s. Then it presents the structure and outcome of bilateral collective agreements in the same period. A brief discussion of problems which remain open and of the lesson that can be learned by the Italian experience concludes the chapter.
Settore SPS/09 - Sociologia dei Processi economici e del Lavoro
2004
Book Part (author)
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/28956
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