Abstract

This article examines the evolution of the Italian right to strike between 1945 and the end of the so-called long autumn of industrial conflict (1969-1980), a period in which strikes reached a peak compared to most of Western Europe and North America. Rather than focusing on ideological and political ruptures, the sources of continuity posed by legal institutions– mainly the right to strike – are examined. An analysis of the jurisprudential changes in the right to st rike enables me to show that the disincentives to go on strike dramatically decreased from the early 1960s, while disincentives to lock out workers rose. In conclusion, I show that Italian legal institutions were not effective in laying the basis for industrial peace.