UNION ELECTIONS
| SPAIN |
| ELECCIONES SINDICALES UNION ELECTIONS |
Term used in Spain to refer to elections of workforce representatives in enterprises ( workers' committee and workers' delegates ) and in the public service (staff council and workers' delegates ). The use of the term sindicales ("union") is technically incorrect, since the workers and their representatives need not necessarily be union members. It derives from historical factors (the elections of representatives in enterprises within the "Vertical Union" of the Franco regime were called "union elections"), from the prevalence of candidates put forward by trade unions (union slates, called listas sindicales ) and from the use of their results as a measure of representativeness (see trade union influence ). Originally, they were all held simultaneously every four years and followed by official publication of the combined results. Nowadays, although elections may take place at the same time within certain sectors or certain geographical areas, preference is given to staggering the timing of elections in order to avoid confrontation between the major unions. Given that overall results are no longer published together, the credentials of representative status have to be verified by certification supplied by the public authorities at the request of the unions concerned. The trend shows a growing proportion of the vote in elections going to the major confederations ( UGT and CC.OO. in general, ELA-STV in the Basque Country and CSIF-CSI in the public service) and to the occupational unions within certain sectors (public administration) or in large enterprises, particularly public enterprises.
Please note: the European industrial relations glossaries were compiled between 1991 and 2003 and are not updated. For current material see the European industrial relations dictionary.