Last trends on collective bargaining decentralization

Abstract

Decentralisation of collective bargaining has been one of the key trends concerning labour market regulation of the last decades. Most of European countries have developed – with different breath and scope – procedures and reforms to strengthen the company level of bargaining. The Great Recession has stressed this orientation, particularly in those countries which were under financial pressure. This paper focuses on the cases of four Mediterranean countries – France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal – in order to assess how decentralisation has been carried out and, most importantly, what kind of practical results have been achieved. On the base of these outcomes, it highlights how the debate concerning the structure ofcollective bargaining is changing from a black or white perspective to a new one in which mixed models are possible if the whole system is coordinated, taking into consideration the type of collective bargaining model set in the country.