Trade unions and social policies: The case of Italy

This article presents and exploratory investigation of how trade unions address the issue of representation in the domain of social policies, especially when they have the capacity to influence policy-making, both through political pressure and involvement in social concertation. After presenting two contrasting approaches to trade union representation in the policy domains, one firmly rooted in reflecting the members’ interests and the second more open to consider the proactive interpretation of those interests and other institutional and political factors, the case of trade union confederations in Italy in taken into consideration. A first analysis of the positions of Italian confederation in the area of social policies since the 1960s shows some distinctions between different policy areas: while their attitudes on social transfers maintained a focus on the interests of members, the positions on social services have consistently supported inclusion. Moreover, even in the field of social transfer, a more inclusive approach has progressively emerged in recent decades, including because membership changes through time and organisational revitalisation almost necessarily involves renewal and expansion of the membership base. Although it must be considered a preliminary result, the analysis shows the importance of developing and applying a more dynamic and less deterministic analytical framework to trade union representation in the field of social policies