The recent essay examines critical opinions on the nature either collective or individual of the right to strike. The meaning of the words «collective» and «individual» as regards the nature of the right to strike has changed in the recent debate with respect to the fifties. During the last years, the Authors tend to express, through the dístinction between the collective and individual na-ture of the right to strike, some of the problems of the trade unions' system, which find in the generalized participation to the industrial conflict one of their sources. In this perspective, Act n. 146/1990, on the discipline of the strike within the essential public services, has acquired a great importance. In particular, this law, on the one hand, shows how the individual nature of the right to strike is compatible with forms of collective regulation of its exer-cise; on the other hand, Act n. 146/1990 links the specific ques-tion of the nature of the right to strike to both the problem of trade uníons as representative agents and that of a reform of the industrial relations system.