ABSTRACT
Immigrant workers’ presence in the trade unions has rapidly increased. In 1999 93,410 immigrants were CISL members, three times more than at the beginning of the decade. The other trade unions have a much smaller presence of immigrants: 43,108 in the CGIL (1998) and about 30,000 in the UIL. Altogether, this suggests a respectable unionisation rate among legal immigrants, close to 30 per cent and hence not much lower than among Italian nationals. Italian trade unions are also open to undocumented immigrants: 16-17 per cent of immigrants frequenting CGIL structures do not have a valid stay permit.
