The article goes over union history in the textile sector and the pecu-liar aspects of bargaining on working time in this sector in the last thirty years. Looking back over the 105 years since the foundation of th union from the perspective of two actors in the front line - enterprise delegates and in the leadership of the national textile union of the Cgil - the paper analyses the restructuring and reorganisation processes involving the textile industry: from the first collective negotiations on working time and the greater use of plants and flexibility, in the search for a more advanced synthesis between the competitive interests of the enterprises and the workers’ individual and collective requirements, until more recent years characterised by the globalisation process and the national contract signed in 2000.only subscribers can see the full article

From the analysis of current trends in female occupation and from the specific contradiction between the desire/necessity of women to enter the labour market, and the entire organisation of the market, stems the urgency to establish conciliation policies intended not as «corrective» downstream measures to allow women to conduct their triple roles as wives, mothers, workers but as innovative, transversal upstream policies as the crux of a new welfare. This thesis is supported in the paper through the analysis of a «case study» of a territorial coalition in the province of Arezzo and reference to recent European recommendations on the issue of reconciliation.only subscribers can see the full article

The paper analyses the results of a research conducted in a Naples’ district, focusing in particular on links between work flexibility, couple life and reproductive choices. An insight is given on family plans, variables of unstable work and problems faced by young couples on the matter of becoming parents, distinguishing between «partially flexible», «totally flexible» and «one-income» couples. A well-constructed framework emerges whereby couples have difficulty planning and organising the «spill over» between work and parenting and where female work flexibility seems to hinder, rather than favour, the couple’s reproductive choice.only subscribers can see the full article

The article gives an historical overview of Filcams bargaining intervention on working time from the 70s to today’s challenges. In all the various phases, the sector’s structural and organisational situation and the aspirations of the workers (in prevalence female) have played a crucial part in the proceedings. The «negotiated» flexibility on working time, its distribution over the week, month and year becomes the main instrument to respond to various requirements and to contrast through negotiation the use of work precariousness. In this perspective the experimentation of working time self-management is a coherent evolution and represents a new frontier.only subscribers can see the full article

The author examines in this paper four interconnected issues: the ambivalent nature of work flexibility, which on the one hand makes work more precarious yet on the other seems to give greater opportunities for professional growth; the increasing «social recognition» of non occupational activities such as care or voluntary work; and, as a consequence, the prospects of a realignment between working and life times and the requirement for a new organisation of the protection system to provide answers to old as well as new risks and opportunities.only subscribers can see the full article

Part-time work is a widespread phenomenon in the Netherlands, es-pecially among women. Not only are part-time rates higher than in any other country, Dutch workers also report that they work part-time because they did not look for a full-time job. This paper de-scribes and explains the growth of part-time work in the Netherlands as a largely spontaneous process, triggered by the late but rapid en-trance of women in the labour market, the initially hesitant but in the end successful facilitation of part-time employment by labour market institutions and policies and, finally, an adjustment of the legal and tax system erasing much of the unequal treatment aspects of part-time work. Furthermore the paper provides an outlook for the Dutch one-and-a-half earner economy, comparing the Netherlands with the Uk and Germany, and poses the question why Dutch women so far did not seek the road towards full-time employment, the option preferred by their Scandinavian sisters.only subscribers can see the full article

The issue of working time and hours has always been at the forefront of Italian collective bargaining in Italy. The paper gives an overview of its evolution, highlighting how most objectives for the containment and duration of hours to the advantage of work has progressively shifted towards objectives for the negotiation and control of flexibilisation of working time requested by the companies. Recognition of this situation has indeed brought to the fore critical aspects, but also proposals that point out how working time bargaining is in Italy one of the most innovative areas of collective bargaining.only subscribers can see the full article

The article takes into consideration the part-time arrangement not as a measure to increase occupation but as a central aspect of a «multi-active» society where the individual, if s/he chooses, can dedicate more time to other spheres of life. Here part-time is perceived as a way to valorise work activities outside the market in a frame of the partial reduction of working time dedicated. By analysing the European panorama on part-time, the following classification of countries is used - Northern, Continental, Mediterranean - according to the extent of part-time, type, age distribution, part-time rates as well as the motivations which induce workers to opt for this work modality and related rights. It seems that the part-time arrangement, when well pro-tected, is a good conciliation tool between work and market, training for the young, family commitments for women, gradual withdrawal for the elderly (to do more leisure or voluntary activities).only subscribers can see the full article