Acceso usuarios
Gianni Principe
In the autumn 1994, trade unions and employers reached at the Termoli plant of Fiat an agreement to extend the lenght of the working week in exchange for pay increase and additional jobs within an area characterized by high levels of unemployment. The agreement was submitted to referendum among workers and tur-ned down by the majority; this caused a long lasting crises in the relations between the workers and the trade unions involved. The Termoli case opens up many questions on democracy within the trade unions system, particularly as regards the legitimation of tra-de unions representatives to take decisions without consulting the relevant workers. In a modern State based upon legal principies as well as on the values of liberal democracy, it can be assumed that agreements must receive the explicit consent of the workers invoi-ved. There also exists the problem of legitimacy of a new bargai¬ning activity, at plant levet, on subjects such as working time alrea-dy settled at the national Level. Certainly, the prohibition contai-ned to this end in the Protocol of the 23rd of July 1993 has been ín the Termoli case blatantly ignored by the parties.
