The regional trade-union : lessons from Spain

Abstract

The region has emerged in the last two decades as a new field of trade-union activity. There is increasing interaction across Europe between unions, employer associations, and state actors at the subnational territorial level. These practices take different forms and cover a wide range of issues, with training and labor market policies being the most common. Some scholars see in the regional trade union the promise of union revitalization, providing a more adaptable alternative in today's flexible economy. Yet others consider it a recipe for weakness and fragmentation. This thesis argues that the region is an important site for trade unions because it is well suited for addressing employment problems and reaching out to "outsiders:" the unemployed, temporary workers, and others in the more insecure parts of the labor market. My research, which compares the experience of different Spanish regions, links successful intervention to two conditions. One is that the union fully connects its efforts in the region to collective bargaining. The other is that it works within the framework of national agreements and institutions, rather than in opposition to them. Contrary to the academic tendency to view the regional and national union in competing terms, these findings underscore the complementarities between them. Moving into this new field requires unions to develop local capacity in labor market policy, regional development, etc. But it also calls for the national level of the organization to provide coordination and to diffuse, compare, and evaluate regional practices in order to promote learning.