The Political Economy of Agency Work in Italy and Germany: A Multi-Level Framework to Explain Diverging Bargaining Outcomes

This chapter investigates the diverging trajectories in collective bargaining outcomes on agency work in the German and Italian metal sector. It finds that bargaining outcomes have improved in Germany in regard to working conditions, prospects for being hired, and limitations to the use of agency work (2003–15), while they have progressively worsened in Italy (1998–2015). The explanation suggests that in both cases the deregulation of agency work allowed employers to exploit labour divides, preventing worker representatives from forming a united front in order to negotiate effectively. However, the campaign for agency workers by the German metal union shows that divides can be overcome and a united labour movement can successfully regulate precarious work.