Abstract

The paper examines the persistence, also in modern legal systems, of working practices typical of servile and slave labour. The first part of the paper reconstructs the attempt promoted by ILO, with the Declaration of 1995 on core labour rights, to introduce universally binding standards aimed at assuring a decent work at the global level, an effort supported by the movements of Porto Alegre's World Social Forum. The second part reconstructs the systems consenting especially in Italy, the presence of a class of temporary sub-workers who sometimes have no compensation. Finally, it is examined the question whether, today, the technological revolution and the activities carried out through digital platforms might overcome the most hierarchical and coercive aspects of subordinate employment contract.