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Negotiating working time reduction
Working time is a key dimension of work organisation and remains a contentious issue between employers and workers. Historically, in an effort to improve working conditions, trade unions have been at the forefront of the struggle for working time reduction (WTR); that is, the shortening of working hours without reduction in pay. However, after some remarkable achievements in the 19th and 20th centuries, in recent decades there has been little change in the length of the standard full-time working week in advanced economies.
This working paper addresses this issue by analysing the process and outcomes of collectively bargained WTR in two large manufacturing firms in Italy. The first objective is to analyse the steps leading to the agreement – that is, the motivation, the premise, the evolution of the proposals, the resources needed and the challenges faced by workers and unions. The second objective is to examine the outcomes of WTR in terms of their impact on the quality of work and the lives of workers. The results inform the debate on the most effective and favourable ways of reducing working time by identifying good practice and the challenges ahead
Negociando a redução de jornadas de trabalho
Sumário de publicação
Abstract ................. 4
Introduction .................... 5
Case studies: methods and approach .......... 8
1. Case study 1: ‘Work less to produce more’ – WTR in a context of high internal flexibility ....................... 10
1.1 Setting the scene ............... 10
1.2 Different shift regimes and their genesis ................... 11
1.3 Workers’ experience of shift regimes and working time reduction .... 16
1.4 Summary and the road ahead ....... 22
2. Case study 2: Introducing WTR to a new collective agreement – drivers and challenges .................. 24
2.1 Setting the scene .............. 24
2.2 How working time reduction became the focus of the renewal of the company agreement ............... 25
2.3 The bargaining process: between technical and political issues ... 27
2.4 The content of the negotiated agreement: a variety of WTR forms and a broad scope .. 30
2.5 Workers’ involvement, information and consultation ...... 33
Conclusions .... 35
References . 39
Appendices ... 41
Appendix 1 Annual paid leave in the national collective agreement for the metalworking industry in Italy ........ 41
Appendix 2 List of interviews ........................ 42
Appendix 3 Additional information on selected shift systems in case study 1: Partmaker ............. 42
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