Abstract
The article examines gender equality in collective bargaining and looks at the extent to which gender and equal opportunities issues have been mainstreamed in industrial relations systems in Italy where, despite the existence of old and new legislation on gender equality, there are persistently low levels of female employment and the precarious workforce is made up predominantly of women. The central question addressed in the article is whether the injection of a gender mainstreaming approach in the Italian collective bargaining system, combined with legislative measures, may improve the situation of women in the context of both public and private spheres. In particular, the article looks at whether gender mainstreaming has the potential to pave the way towards an ethos of substantive equality at the workplace, whereby women enter the workforce on equal terms and men are in a position to share the dual responsibilities of paid and unpaid work. The article maintains that gender mainstreaming may fulfil its transformative potential as a catalyst for changing both the conceptual and analytical tools which the law deploys, provided it is envisaged as a three-fold strategy involving simultaneous processes of deconstruction, replacement and inclusive measures, together with deliberative forms of democracy and the imposition of a statutory positive duty on public authorities to mainstream equality.
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Notes
E.g. Legislative Decree 645/1996 implementing the Pregnancy Directive 92/85/EEC; Legislative Decree 61/2000 implementing the Part-time Work Directive 97/81/EC; Legislative Decree 216/2006 implementing the Framework Directive 2000/78.
Directive 76/207/EEC as amended by Directive 2002/73/EC.
Directives 96/34/EC and 97/81/EC.
Act 125/1991, Article 9.
Act 300/70, Article 28.
Legislative Decree 196/2000.
Legislative Decree 196/2000, Article 7.
Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999.
Regulations (EC) 1081/2006 and 1083/2006.
Council Decision 2006/702/EC.
Regulation (EC) 1083/2006, Article 16.
Regulation (EC) No 1784/1999, Article 2 (1) (e) and (2) (c); Regulation (EC) No 1783/1999, Article 2 (2) (f); Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999, Article 2; Regulation (EC) 1698/2005, Article 8.
COM (2002) 748 final.
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The author would like to thank Fiona Beveridge and the reviewers for their very helpful and constructive comments on earlier drafts of the paper.
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Velluti, S. Promotion of Gender Equality at the Workplace: Gender Mainstreaming and Collective Bargaining in Italy. Fem Leg Stud 16, 195–214 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-008-9088-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-008-9088-z