Through an in-depth analysis of three public procurement protocols developed in Italy, this article discusses the politics of socially responsible public procurement and, in particular, of experimentation with ‘buying decent work’. We analyse the role played by trade unions in experiments aimed at improving working conditions in outsourced public services and the power resources they rely on in different phases of the ‘buying decent work’ policy cycle. We show that trade unions are the leading force in the establishment of ‘buying decent work’ principles through the mobilisation of their associational, coalitional and ideational power resources. This results in a form of state-backed institutionalisation that equips trade unions with institutional power resources, which are key in the phases of implementation and enforcement of ‘buying decent work’. Associational power resources, however, are also important in ensuring enforcement.
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