Autonomia individuale e collettiva nel diritto del lavoro. Alcune riflessioni sulle sue radici e sulla sua reale importanza

The article provides an overview on the origins of the couple "collective-individual", reconstructing theses and questions about its actual significance and importance. The starting point for Philipp Lotmar and Hugo Sinzheimer, "fathers of modern labour law", is that regarding the balance of power between the employer and the employee, the latter generally is in a weaker position. According to these authors, workers have a chance to overcome their relative weakness on the individual contractual level only if the collective autonomy of workers' organisations is ensured. This is also the position of the German Constitutional Court. The article refers to the controversial debate on this point and emphasizes that individual and collective autonomy are not in contrast but competing each other. In this context, the analysis focuses on the "principle of the most favourable standard", the decrease of the binding force of the unions, the relation between collective autonomy and a general minimum wage stated by law.