Abstract
The essay addresses the complex issue of collective dismissal from the point of view of the balance between enterprise and work values. Compared with the current discipline, the latest reform efforts, including the need of taking account of the general public interest and the historical context of reference, have taken a new balance between business needs and workers’ interests. The essence of the essay is to check whether this new balance is more balanced than the one guaranteed by Law no. 223 of 1991 and by its uncertain jurisprudence. From this point of view and with this purpose the most relevant legal issues concerning collective redundancies are analyzed, such as the problem of the relation between trade union control and judicial review, the semplified legal procedure only in part, the unresolved complexity of the criteria of choise and the reform of the sanctions with the progressive elimination of reinstatement and the problem of congruity of indemnities.