Patterns of trade union participation in territorial pacts: the case of a northern Italian province

This article analyzes the role played by trade unions within Italian territorial pacts (TPs). Trade unions have always played a part in the negotiations that establish TPs, but their role has been rather underplayed in the wider literature. Based on comparative empirical research into the eight territorial pacts signed in the Province of Turin, in the north-west of Italy, it was found that union participation in the TPs was shaped by the type of TP, the size of union organizations, and the personal commitment of individual union representatives. It was found that the patterns of union participation in TPs reflected the long-standing Italian tradition of micro-concertation, but the outcomes did not.