La contrattazione di secondo livello nel settore dei pubblici esercizi: vecchi e nuovi modelli

The author reviews evidence that the bargaining structure is becoming more decentralized in the hospitality industry for bars, cafés and restaurants, although in somewhat different degrees and ways for small, medium and large companies. He then examines the various hypotheses that have been offered from the last century untill now. Despite undeniable trends towards the decentralisation of collective bargaining structures in Italy, the hospitality industry sector very centralised. Collective bargaining takes place predominantly at a national or regional level. The importance of sectoral collective agreements – and, thus, multi-employer collective bargaining – is indicated by the fact that these agreements are used for a large share of employees as well as companies. At the same time, the tendency towards a company-based approach to collective bargaining cannot be ignored. Indeed, the author also talks about the obstacles of the decentralisation of collective bargaining and explores, at the same time, new possibilities for company-level deviations (from norms set under national-sectoral agreements). He emphasises the need for more decentralisation, especially for wage setting, in order to satisfy companies’ competitive needs, or to allow companies to overcome temporary economic difficulties, thus permitting companies to cope better with global competition and unstable markets.