Disrupting carbon lock-in from below: union coalitions in Civitavecchia and the making of a just transition in Italy’s energy sector

Deep decarbonisation requires overcoming carbon lock-in and prioritising green ‘phase-in’ over necessary ‘phase-out’ strategies in fossil fuel-intensive energy and industrial sectors. This article analyses a case of localised transformative agency in Civitavecchia (Rome metropolitan area, Italy), a territory dependent on a major coal-fired power plant. Integrating a power resource framework with literature in environmental labour studies, we examine how a heterogeneous inter-union collaboration (CGIL, UIL, USB) achieved wider cooperation and subsequently shifted strategy from defensive opposition to demanding an affirmative just transition combining job creation and clean energy infrastructure. Using extensive qualitative data, we argue that strategic mobilisation of coalitional power is essential for union renewal and for challenging the structural privilege of incumbent fossil fuel capital. Localised democratic experimentation by unions can successfully disrupt national-level political inertia, driving policy implementation for high-road job creation and local environmental sustainability. But upscaling and institutional support for such struggles remain necessary to secure these outcomes.