Abstract

The present essay is aimed at introducing a series of contributions celebrating the 50 th anniversary of the Workers’ Statute. Starting from the analysis of the so-called “two soulsµ of the Workers’ Statute, it wonders whether there is still room for collective bargaining to play an active role, after 50 years since the adoption of the Workers’ Statute and in the light of the significant transformation occurred in the production system. The domains in which the evolution of the balance between statutory rules and collective bargaining seems to be prominent are: antidiscrimination law, labour market fragmentation and the protection of outsiders, and minimum wage policies.