Discretion and (de)centralization in wage bargaining in the construction, hospitality, urban transport and waste management sectors: A study on Italy

Abstract

Italy has the highest collective bargaining coverage (presumed/estimated) in the EU, and the worst wage dynamics of OECD countries. The second-best European data, in terms of incidence of low wages, but only for full-time, permanent and contractually covered jobs. Otherwise, it is among the worst, in terms of the In-work poverty. As a result of these major ambivalences and contradictions, a lively debate has taken shape - political, trade union and academic - around the overall effectiveness of our contractual and wage-setting system. This report describes the key elements of the wage setting system in the Country, at cross-sectoral level, and in the four ones, object of the BARWAGE study. What emerges is a rather dynamic and structured picture, from the point of view of collective bargaining and wages. But within an overall system that today reveals strong critical issues, with respect to which a strong debate has taken shape, also thanks to the prospects opened by the EU Directive for Adequate Minimum Wages.