Radical Unionism and the Workers' Struggle in Spain

The Spanish labor movement inherited a rievolutionary legacy whose most important landmarks are the general strike of 1917, the proletarian insurrection of 1934, and the zealous antifascist reaction of 1936. However, as a result of its defeat in the Spanish Civil War, the prolonged iron dictatorship profoundly disrupted the continuity of this tradition. Curtailed by bloody repression, organized labor resurfaced in the 1960s and by the 1970s had become a decisive agent, creating intense conflict and initiating mass mobilization, in the crisis of the Franco regime that led to a parliamentary monarchy. During this period the labor movement's revolutionary perspective was replaced by the goal of political democracy. For the majority, frustrated aspirations for social and economic reform accompanied this partially accomplished goal. In terms of the capacity for mobilization and/or the substance of the struggles, an obvious decline occurred after the peak achieved between 1975 and 1977. The combined effect of the economic crisis and the establishment of the new political system weakened the most combative sectors, bureaucratized the major labor confederations, and reduced demands for social justice. High unemployment rates, an unstable labor market (one-third of workers had temporary contracts), and a flood of plant closings and cutbacks in the industries where the labor movement was strongest created increasingly adverse conditions. A class perspective retreated in the face of individualism and/or corporatism of labor action that focused on immediate and limited demands (Bilbao, 1993). At the same time, the stability of the political system was based on a narrow conception of democracy that restricted its social content and limited mass participation. Consistent with the evolution of the sociopolitical structure, the labor confederations became dependent on state subsidies when they adopted a moderate position that led to the demobilization and reduction of their militant rank and file. Ideological disarmament was rapidly consolidated through social

Corporatism · Democracy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Proletariat · Sociology · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Spanish History and Politics

• Neocorporativisme a l'Estat espanyol postfranquista

  Open Access•Jordi Roca Jusmet•Papers Revista de Sociologia•1985

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