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If workers feel that their employer is not respecting their contractual and
trade union rights, they may turn to a trade union organisation or a solicitor
to bring the situation to a close and if necessary obtain compensation for any
damages caused. In both cases, the first step is an attempt at arbitration (a
form of agreement mutually satisfying to the parties). If this path is not
feasible, a worker may take his or her employer to court (with the assistance of
a solicitor, hired personally or by a trade union) and an employment judge rules
on the dispute.
In Italy it is possible to dismiss a worker only for ‘just’ cause or a
justified reason. if the worker contests the legality of the dismissal, he or
she may take the employer to court to obtain compensation for the damages and
may even ask the judge to be allowed to return to work if he or she worked in a
company with more than 15 employees.
The right to strike is exercised in accordance with the laws that govern this
action. The right to strike is granted to an individual worker, working within
the public or private sector, and it may be exercised without the need for union
approval. This right is said to be individual in terms of ownership, but
collective in the way it is exercised and a call to strike must be collective. A
strike is legal when it is concerned with wages and also when, more generally,
it is called for all claims concerning workers’ interests as a whole.
Any form of strike is legal, even if it is takes a form other than the
wholesale suspension of working activities, provided it does not affect other
constitutionally protected rights.
Exercise of the right to strike in essential public services and to safeguard
the rights of constitutionally protected persons is governed by law no. 146/90
and subsequent amendment and additions. Strikes are called relatively frequently
in Italy, but the only consequence that a worker faces if he or she joins a
strike is wage cut equal to the number of hours for which he or she is absent
from work. Suspension from work by the employer is permitted provided this does
not constitute anti-trade union conduct, i.e. provided it is not designed to
limit or prevent the exercise of trade union rights and the right to strike by
workers.
Text last edited on: 02/2007
Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2006
Reproduction is authorised.
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