From contention to social bargaining: labour unions and democratic consolidation in Spain |
| |
Authors: | Sebastián Royo Associate Professor Affiliate and co-chair of the Iberian Study Group |
| |
Institution: | 1. Government Department , Suffolk University , Boston, MA, USA;2. Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies , Harvard University , Cambridge, MA, USA sroyo@acad.suffolk.edu |
| |
Abstract: | The main objective of this article is to examine how the links between trade unions and affiliated political parties of the left influenced the strategies of labour during the transition and the early years of democracy in Spain. It argues that political partisanship is a key factor for understanding the unions' strategies. After a period of intense labour conflict during the transition to democracy, labour mobilization decreased and Spain's unions and other social actors initiated distinctive processes of social bargaining, starting in 1979. The central argument is that the relationship of unions and political parties in the authoritarian and transition periods was a major factor in conditioning strategies in the post-authoritarian period. In the end, the consolidation of Spanish democracy has led to the strengthening of the main trade unions. Contrary to what happened in other historical periods they used this power to contribute to governability and the consolidation of the new democratic regime. |
| |
Keywords: | Spain labour unions party–union relationship social bargaining democratic consolidation |
|
|