One of the main characteristics of the Italian public administration (PA) is the recognition of its function as representative of state and national sovereignty. Thus, in the republican phase of Italian history and with the adoption of the new Constitution (from 1948 onwards), both the organisational and above all the contractual aspects of the PA have always been regulated by parliamentary laws or in any case by acts with the force of national law. Secondly, the PA has been distinguished over the decades, compared to the private sector, by the strong roots within it of the three historical trade union confederations of socialist and communist (CGIL), social-democratic (UIL) and Catholic (CISL) matrix. Thus, until the 1990s, a representation circuit essentially limited to CGIL, UIL, and CISL which negotiated with the parties was established. This circuit has often favoured clientelist solutions. The attempt by Italian governments after the 1990s to introduce managerial criteria in the PA and the gradual establishment of other unions within it, particularly in the health sector, did not undermine the strength of the three historical confederations, nor did they significantly reduce the rate of participation of PA workers in union life. The introduction of a ‘private’ wage bargaining model, with the exclusion of political parties and ministries, was therefore perceived by the unions as aimed at reducing their influence and opposed for this reason. However, during the COVID pandemic crisis, precisely this close link between the trade union circuit and political circles helped the search for shared solutions between the parties and the affirmation of a concerted model for solving problems that reduced social conflict and favoured Italian ‘success’ in managing the crisis itself.