The crisis of Italian Trade Unionism in the 1980s

During the 1980s Italian trade unions have suffered a decline in bargaining power in the labour market and have lost much of their weight in the political arena. Various developments explain this decline: the unions have become victims of past successes; the dynamics of party and coalition politics have caused the disintegration of union unity; changes in the occupational structure are being perceived as having generated a ‘crisis of representation ‘. The unions are therefore now forced to adapt their strategy to the needs of a more heterogeneous working class.