Shaping industrial relations in a digitalising services industry: Regional report for Southern Europe

The UNI Europa project 'Shaping Industrial Relations in a Digitalising Services Industry - Challenges and Opportunities for Social Partners', in cooperation with 'ZSI – Zentrum für Soziale Innovation' and promoted by the European Commission, aims to identify and analyse change factors and explore new approaches for social partners on the challenges of maintaining effective industrial relations systems in a digitalising services industry. The project strives to provide policy advice for trade unions, social partners and policymakers on necessary adaptations of institutional frameworks for industrial relations, collective bargaining, social dialogue and capacity building for social partners. Challenges and opportunities are identified and analysed in particular with regard to workers’ representation at company level and collective bargaining as well as the work and organisation of trade unions in general

Una fine inevitabile? Il crollo del regno longobardo di fronte ai Franchi e al papato

La caida del reino longobardo en manos de los francos es de importancia central en la historia de Europa, tanto para la adquisición de una dimensión imperial de parte de Carlomagno, como desde el punto de vista de la historia italiana en la cual este evento representa un auténtico pundo de avance. Sobre esto existe una vieja y polémica discusión en la historiografía italiana, en cuyos orígenes está el gran debate de la edad del Renacimiento, iniciado en 1822 por Alessandro Manzoni, Los dos mayores historiadores italianos que se ocuparon de los longobardos cerca de la segunda mitad del siglo XX fueron Gian Piero Bognetti y Ottorino Bertolini, junto a Paolo Delogu y Arnaldo Momigliano entre otros. La caduta del rego longobardo nelle mani dei Franchi è di importanza centrale nella storia d’Europa, sia per l’acquisizione di una dimensione imperiale da parte di Carlo Magno, e dal punto di vista della storia italiana di cui questo evento rappresenta un autentico punto di svolta. Su questo tema esiste una vecchia e polemica discussione nella storiografia italiana, alle cui origini c’è il grande dibattito dell’età del Risorgimento, iniziato nel 1822 da Alessandro Manzoni. I due maggiori storici italiani che si sono occupati dei Longobardi alla metà circa del XX secolo erano Gian Piero Bognetti e Ottorino Bertolini, oltre a Paolo Delogu e Arnaldo Momigliano tra gli altri.

Framing work and welfare: Insights from the growing relevance of company welfare in Italy

This article applies the concept of frames of reference to contemporary work and welfare dynamics by focusing on the growing relevance of company welfare in Italy after the 2008 crisis. The analysis considers how this occurred along three phases: in the first, a path-breaking case, Luxottica, demonstrates the potential of company welfare; then, Renzi’s government promotes company welfare through tax breaks; finally, trade unions try to affect the diffusion of company welfare, displaying contrasting ideologies as well as pragmatic joint solutions in the process. Overall, two contiguous sub-frames – consultative unitarism and collaborative pluralism – offer the mainstream justification to the events and the policy debate around them, a debate in which the industrial relations scholarship played a key role. However, a critical interpretation is present too, suggesting that the relevance of company welfare is driven by the mobilisation of a political and economic elite and results in few cases of positive employment relations alongside broad social and economic imbalances

Una fine inevitabile? Il crollo del regno longobardo di fronte ai Franchi e al papato

According to the Italian historiography, from Alessandro Manzoni (1822) to the two major Italian historians who studied the Lombards at the middle of the twentieth century, Gian Piero Bognetti and Ottorino Bertolini, the Lombards remained always separated from the Roman population, of which the pope was the natural leader; the Lombards, too, became very late Catholics, in time, though, to experience the "drama" of having to fight against the pope, whose supreme spiritual authority the Lombards themselves at that point recognized. Consequently, the fall of the independent kingdom by the hands of the Franks would be logical and inevitable. This is an old and outdated position: the end of the independent Lombard kingdom wasn't inevitable. At the time of the Frankish conquest, the kingdom was politically solid inward, in economic growth and very dynamic outward. During the reigns of Liutprand, Ratchis and Aistulf (712-757), the kingdom exercised its hegemony over the whole Italy. In this period no strong elements of internal weakness emerged. Therefore, the defeat of 774 was substantially caused by external factors, ie the alliance between the Franks and the papacy. However, the attitude of the popes against the Lombard kingdom was not always hostile. Things changed only with Stephen II, because of two simultaneous events occurring in 751: the royal anointing of Pepin in the Frankish kingdom and the conquest of the Exarchate by Aistulf. Italian political balance broke and caused the decisive rapprochement between Rome and the Franks. But there were still many uncertainties, as proved, for example, by Charlemagne's marriage with a daughter of Desiderius. Carloman's death in 771 and, the following year, the election of the new pope Adrian I caused the repudiation of the Lombard bride by Charlemagne, his descent into Italy in 773, and the capture of Pavia the year after: Desiderius was exiled in France and Charlemagne became rex Langobardorum. The very rapid epilogue of the story of the kingdom, however, depended on contingent factors: to the last, the story could take a different direction. Rather different was the situation on the military front. In fact the Lombard army was not quite able to compete with the Frankish one, accustomed to the seasonal war and to the looting along the borders of the kingdom. This fact alone explains the rapid defeat of the Lombard at the Clusae against the Franks. The structures of the Lombard kingdom were not at all upset by the Frankish conquest. Already around 780, the Italian capitularia mention the Lombards counts alongside the Frankish ones; in the same period the Lombards fit into the vassals' files. All this indicates a transition without any major shocks from the old system, previous to the 774, to the next Frankish rule