LABOUR LAW IN A CONTEXT OF AUSTERITYGuamán, Katsaroumpas, Loffredo, Lorente

Introductory remarks to a common problem

Juridifying Commodification of Labour Law?

Introduction

Euro-Mediterranean Labour Law Model: Greece, Portugal and Spain influenced by Italy

Evolution with common trends: Productive structure Employers’ behavior and informal economy Traditional labour law based on stability (among

core workers) and protection against dismissal The systems have been considered “rigid” by

the EU Institutions

Introduction

Relation between the evolution of traditional labour law and the European Economic Integration First wave: Maastricht and privatization Second wave: Amsterdam and employment

policies Third wave: New Economic governance

instruments (European Semester CSR, Memoranda)and anti-democratic interventions

Introduction

Goals: reduction of the remaining components of labour law Break down the stability principle Transfer of the economic risk: from employer to

employees Labour law colonised by market rules Destruction of the continental labour law model

Instruments: EU Recommendations and financial compromises Intervention in democratic governments (Memoranda) National Labour law reforms

Three laboratories for pursuing the same goal

Common premises

Labour law and labour rights have been considered the main causes of job loss

Labour relations model is accused of “rigidity” and “flexibilisation” is proposed as solution

Was labour law so rigid? Several labour reforms have been adopted

following the country-specific recommendations adopted by the Commission and the Council of EU

Austerity and Greece

First laboratory

The Paradigmatic ‘‘Path Departure’’ of Greek Labour Law during the economic crisis

A. Individual Labour Law Reforms: De-Mutualising Risk towards the Employee

Increasing ‘’External Flexibility’’ (Trial Period for Open-ended Contracts raised from 2 to 12 months, Substantial Reduction of severance pay and notice periods for dismissals, Increase of Collective Redundancy Thresholds, Labour Reserve ‘‘Concealed Dismissal’’ Process for Public Sector Workers)

Increasing ‘‘Internal Flexibility’’ (Maximum duration of ‘’rotating work’’ lengthened from six to nine months per Year, Extension of Working Time for Public Sector Workers from 37.5 to 40 hours per week)

The Paradigmatic ‘‘Path Departure’’ of Greek Labour Law during the economic crisis

Promoting the Use of Non-Standard Forms of Employment (Maximum Duration of temporary Agency Work raised from 1 to 3 years, Maximum Duration of Successive Fixed-Term Contracts raised from 2 to 3 years)

New Sub-Minimum Contractual Arrangements for Young Workers

The Paradigmatic ‘‘Path Departure’’ of Greek Labour Law during the economic crisis

B. Collective Labour Law Reforms: Reducing Workers’ Collective Anti-Power

Disorganised Decentralisation (Suspension of ‘’favourability’’ between enterprise and sectoral agreements, removal of the numerical requirement for the conclusion of enterprise agreements, elimination of the extension mechanisms for sectoral agreements, granting of collective bargaining powers to the atypical non-union entity ‘associations of persons’

Reduction of After-Effect from Six to Three Months

The Paradigmatic ‘‘Path Departure’’ of Greek Labour Law during the economic crisis

Multiple Interventions in Collective Autonomy by Modifying the Effects of Existing Collective Agreements and Arbitration Awards

Replacement of a Collectively-Determined Minimum Wage with a State-Determined Minimum Wage

Decapacitation of Arbitration as Ultimum Remedium for a Non-Market Determination of Terms and Conditions of Employment (from unilateral to consensual recourse, confinement of the scope of arbitration awards to the basic wage and not as previously to all aspects of a collective dispute)

Partial Conclusion

Juridifying ‘‘Hyper-Commodification’’: Demutualising Risk towards the Employee and Attacking Workers’ Collective Anti-Power as the Dominant Crisis Trends. The Neutralisation of the Pre-Crisis Pro-Worker Identity of Greek Labour Law (normative weakening)

The New Greek Government and Labour Law: Is the Darkest Hour for Greek Labour Law just before the dawn?

Spain, crisis and austerity: denaturalising labour law

Second laboratory

Labour law reforms during the crisis: (2008-2014): the permanent reform

1. Individual Labour Law Reforms: De-Mutualising Risk towards the Employee:

A. Changing the nature of the “open ended contract”: from stability to hyper-flexibility and incertitude

Creation of a new type of contract, the “contract supporting entrepreneurs” with a one-year trial period and tax and social security discounts

Internal “flexibility”: mechanisms modify labour conditions inside the enterprise

Deeply modification of the dismissal procedure and reduction of its cost regarding unfair dismissal severance pay and redundancy payment. Less control possibilities for administrative and judicial authorities

Labour law reforms during the crisis: (2008-2014): the permanent reform

b. Changing the nature of the “training contracts”: from training to low cost labour force

Reform of training contracts: less security to ensure formation and participation of Temporary Agencies

c. Changing the nature of “part time work”: involuntary & the perfect way for labour fraud

Part-time contracts promotion by deregulation of extra-hours and a new part-time contract linked to training

d. The end of the causality principle in temporary contracts: temporarity as a way to employment creation

New temporary contracts for young people (first young employment contract)

Labour law reforms during the crisis: Phase II (2012-2014): the permanent reform

B. Collective Labour Law Reforms: Reducing Workers’ Collective Anti-Power

Widening the opportunities for the employer to modify a sectoral collective agreements at the level of the undertaking (opting out)

Granting to the enterprise collective agreement a priority over the sectorial agreement

Limiting the temporal validity of collective agreements

Partial conclusions

Weaknesses of the Welfare State model in Spain

Model of previous growth based in serious unbalances: Oversize of certain sectors (construction) Underdevelopment of others (industry) Abuse and lack of control of temporary contracts based on jobs with low added value and import of

workers In Spain the destruction of SME trends has been

easier: was the Spanish labour law that rigid? Spain has been an ideal scenario to experiment

From polarisation to precarisation of Italian labour market in times of austerity

Third laboratory

The “never ending reform” of Labour Law

A model based on the stability principle The “Biagi Reform” (L.D. 276/2003) and

the flex(in)security policies Effects: the polarisation of labour market The “Fornero Reform” (Act 92/2012) and

the “Jobs act” (2014-15): the austerity policies

A new standard: a generalised precarity for Italian workforce

The flex(in)security reforms

a) the fragmentation of the enterprises after the outsourcing reforms

b) the regulation of some contractual typologies in a more precarious way, acceptable almost exclusively by workers having a low bargaining power, or to some social clusters or categories towards which they are traditionally directed

c) the increase of “subjective causes” to conclude some contractual typologies characterised by less legal and wage protections, mostly used by enterprises operating in labour intensive sectors

d) the use of training in the employment contract mostly in an occupational key has resulted in the debasement of the professional incidence inside the apprenticeship

The paradigm: organisational needs have prevailed over the protection of workers

The austerity reforms (2012-20??)

The fixed term contract (2001-2012-2014) The complete liberalisation for temporary

agency work. The unfair dismissal reform Art. 18 Statuto dei lavoratori The attempts to reform the “real stability” The EU direct intervention The first reform of 2012 The complete abrogation of 2015

Trade unions in a polarised/precarised market

Decline in terms representativeness for trade unions

The peculiar (extra)legal framework of Italian industrial relations

The breakdown of trade unions’ unity The Fiat conflict as a new paradigm in

industrial relations The attack against the right of strike

Partial Conclusions

The need for a legislative intervention developing Art. 39 of the Constitution

Outsourcing: the principle of the economic dependence between enterprises

The abuse of “subjective causes” as a form of indirect discrimination

The apprenticeship: the enhancement of training, as a sign of change in employment policies towards quality employment and not low-cost workforce

Job insecurity is life insecurity for young people A new paradigm: the labour market law

Three ways for arriving to a similar goal?

General Conclussions

Old and new standard

Characteristics of traditional employment model: dependent work, full time and open ended contracts

Characteristics of the new standard rise and generalisation of temporary contracts and part-time

work, de-regulation of open ended contracts New types of atypical contracts destruction of permanent jobs (which would not be recovered), stabilisation of unemployment rate modification of the collective bargaining structure and reduction

of the collective agreement’s coverage, reduction of trade union power, social legitimation and

institutional weight

Global trend and south-Europe new model?

ILO 2015 (World Employment Social Outlook, The Changing nature of Jobs): The traditional employment model is changing in developed countries. In advanced economies, the standard employment model is less and less dominant.

A new common paradigm: the labour market law??