Il buio oltre la siepe: Corte cost. 23 luglio 2013, n. 231 = The darkness beyond the hedge: Corte cost. July 23, 2013, n. 231. WP C.S.D.L.E. “Massimo D’Antona”.IT – 182/2013

This paper analyzes the evolution, from the 70s to today, of the Italian constitutional Court case law on art. 19 Statue n. 300/1970: the discipline that establish the rules for trade union representatives’ recognition in workplaces. Particular importance is recognized to the judgment that declared the admissibility of the referendum to repeal held in the 90s, which created the conditions for a crisis of the whole legal system of trade unions’ representation in workplaces. Ample space is devoted to the context of the controversial labor relations that led to the last delivery of the Constitutional Court, n. 231/2013. On it, the author dwells, in order to identify the prospects for further development of the legal system and case law on the recognition of trade unions’ rights in the workplace