Il diritto sindacale al tempo della crisi. Intervento eteronomo e profili di legittimità costituzionale

The essay explores some recent law reforms in the field of individual and collective labour relations and focuses on the lowering of the level of protectiveness towards workers they seem to foster as well as on their effect on the system of sources of regulation (i.e. the shift from legislative regulation to contractual norms; from nation-wide collective agreements to plant-level agreements). In this perspective, the author focuses on the consistence of these trends with constitutional principles and rules concerning trade union freedom and collective bargaining. To this end, the author offers an analysis of relevant doctrine and case law and suggests re-reading some basic decisions issued by the Constitutional Court over the time, arguing they still deserve due attention. Throughout his analysis, the author warns about the risk of considering obsolete fundamental principles and rights that are rather still of crucial importance in the current constitutional legal framework.