Trade Unions in Democracy: From mobilisation to management.

Abstract

The role of the CC.OO., a trade union that had established deep social roots during the struggle against Franco, became very important in the months following Franco's death, but did not manage to impose its plans to construct a single trade union movement to represent all of the workers. As the UGT recovered its strength, it slipped into a bipolar, pluralistic structure of trade union activity, with the State-run structure of labour relations being replaced by a more democratic set-up. This took place at a time of deep economic crisis, closely linked to the political transition and widespread activism amongst workers and society as a whole. The trade unions, and especially the UGT, explored the potential of concerted social pacts and neocorporative pacts as of 1979, but in 1986 abandoned the attempt. They then followed a highly politicised joint strategy, intended to achieve important social advances and change the economic policy. This generated many labour disputes and unrest, but they were unable to bend the government and ended up in a situation in which their responsibility for managing workers'interests within the framework of the welfare state predominated over more political and ideological pursuits.