Trade unions have lost, in many European countries, their social and founding role — or worse, their capability to represent all kinds of workers — as a result of the advancement in disintermediation, driven by both globalisation and digitalisation.

In the tragic events of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, there could be seeds for a new foundation and scope for Trade Unions’ legitimacy, one that could lie particularly in negotiating cooperative approaches between all stakeholders, as well as the implementation of new international and national regulatory frameworks with local in-company approaches. This new path could in fact allow all economic actors to produce dividends while at the same time ensuring quality occupation.

Yet first Trade Unions should ask themselves the following questions: what are the strategic choices that companies have to make in order to adapt their operations to the so-called New Normal? What do the employees demand? What should governments do?

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