RISULTATI RICERCA

La Rivoluzione industriale delineò radicali trasformazioni nella vita sociale della popolazione. Si era passati in pochissimo tempo da un sistema produttivo agrario-feudale ad un altro fondato sull’uso delle macchine e sullo sfruttamento delle risorse e degli esseri umani. Alle violenze e agli abusi che seguirono, si rispose con lotte e sommosse. Nacque la classe operaia e prese corpo il movimento operaio, che si fondava su un pensiero operaio. Il lavoro diventò la struttura costitutiva della vita dell’operaio. Louis Blanc perseguì per tutta la vita idee utopistiche e riformatrici di liberazione sociale, fondata sulla democrazia e sul socialismo, sulla cooperazione economica e sulla collaborazione istituzionale. Il libro L’organizzazione del lavoro lo rese famoso: 10 edizioni dal 1839 al 1848. Propose principi di associazione e di cooperazione, ispirati da un’azione istituzionale dello Stato. Si batté per la creazione di laboratori sociali e di un Ministero del lavoro. Fu avversato da tutti: intellettuali, socialisti, politici, industriali ed economisti. Ma non venne mai meno alle sue idee. In un’epoca di crisi e di miseria sociale rivolse sempre la sua attenzione soprattutto ai poveri, agli emarginati e agli sfruttati. Le sue idee di organizzazione del lavoro non avevano soltanto finalità materialistiche, ma erano profondamente legate alla spiritualità e alla dignità di ogni essere umano. Un pensiero che vale la pena approfondire anche oggi, in un’altra epoca di crisi, diversa e complessa, che genera però ancora miseria e povertà.

With decision no. 1/2014, delivered on January 13, 2014, the Italian Constitutional Court struck down two aspects of the current electoral law (no. 270/2005): the majority prize (premio di maggioranza) and the closed-list system (liste bloccate). The first mechanism gives the winners too many seats compared to the number of votes obtained (at national level, in the Lower House; and at the regional level, in the Upper House): 55 per cent of seats whatever the majority gained. The Court found that the majority prize violates the principles of popular sovereignty (art. 1 Const.), equality before the law (art. 3 Const.) and equality of the vote (art. 48 Const.). The second mechanism prevents voters from exercising their democratic prerogative of expressing a preference for specific candidates, giving them only the chance to choosing a very long party list, in which candidates are ranked in order of electoral priority by party leaders. The Court ruled that closed-list system, as regulated by the current electoral law, violates the principle of the freedom of the vote (art. 48 Const.). Following the Court’s decision, the Democratic Party (PD), the Forza Italia (FI) and the Nuovo Centrodestra group (NCD) agreed on a new electoral regulation, the so called "Italicum". Now the question is whether this proposal complies with the requirements of the Italian Constitutional Court.

The paper concentrates on tax exemption policies aimed at sustaining collective agreements in the area of variable wage systems linked to the company productivity performance. Starting from a reconstruction of the present legal framework, the Author verifies its effectiveness. The analysis shows that this framework lacks of rigorous measures and mechanisms able to result in sound and innovative companies plans, directed at obtaining real productivity increases. The Author hopes that a change of attitude by the Government and the social actors will be reached on the subject. Present policies have only got till now a reduction of enterprise labour costs. So we need a relevant change in order to set up a collective bargaining system with an ambitious and qualifying content in the field of productivity gains

The essay analyzes the subjects that Confederal Agreements from 2009 to 2013 have assigned to collective bargaining at the second level, distinguishing between delegation and deregulation. As regards the relationship among the different contractual levels of bargaining, the model of decentralized productivity salary has remained stable over time; more recently national collective agreements have been attempting to extend this competence into other areas more tipically characterized by flexibility (hours and organization of work; duties; new technologies). The union system seems to hesitate between old and new models, but with the latest agreement stipulated May 31, 2013 it has become clear that every choice needs unity of action by the Confederated Unions.

In this paper we argue that the deceleration of labour productivity is at the root of the slowdown of the Italian economic growth over the last twenty years. Using a simple model of growth accounting, we show that this poor performance can only be accounted for by a combination of two main changes: an adverse technological change to the labour demand (TFP slowdown) and a positive institutional change to the labour supply (higher flexibility). Basically, the Italian productivity slowdown and the deterioration of its international competitiveness open new questions on the feared decline of the Italian economy.