Sumário:Introduction : the Italian way to internal devaluation. A precarization of labour and weakening of trade union action at company level (amendment of dismissal law). Circumvention of the ccnl by means of exceptional employment contracts. Downward competition on labour costs by means of outsourcing and value chains. Promotion of decentralized collective bargaining and its power to derogate from the law and freezing of collective bargaining in the public sector -- The trade union(s) strategies: Bargaining strategy. Judicial strategy. Confrontational strategy -- New challenges for workers and new challenges for their organization(s): Italian trade union's strategies. Alternative experiences of (and in favour of) precarious workers -- Anti-austerity protests : the involvement of trade unions and social movements -- Concluding remarks.