Employee participation and involvement: the Italian case and trade union issues

Among Europe’s industrial relations systems, that of Italy stands out because of its high degree of voluntarism. Despite the existence of a specific – albeit never implemented – article in the 1948 Constitution, in the following decades employee participation has remained limited to the sphere of contractually established information and consultation rights, without in any way envisaging more formalized and incisive forms of co-determination at both workplace and board levels, prescribed by law only in very few cases. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of worker participation in Italy from the post-war period to the present day, outlining the links between the ideologies of the players involved, the prevailing production models and industrial relations practices, both formal and informal, that have been implemented at sectoral and company level. The article also provides an overview of best practices and the legislative measures in the pipeline, as well as outlining opportunities for and obstacles to real change in the near future.