CC.OO holds eighth congress

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The Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CC.OO), Spain's largest trade union confederation, held its eighth congress in April 2004. CC.OO's position towards the newly-elected Socialist government attracted considerable attention, following a period in which the confederation had - somewhat controversially - engaged in dialogue and negotiation with the previous conservative People's Party administration.

The Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO) - one of Spain's two main trade union confederations - held its eighth confederal congress in Madrid on 21-24 April 2004. Its seventh congress had taken place in 2000 (ES0005286F). CC.OO now claims 1 million members compared with 800,000 four years ago. It was also the trade union organisation that obtained most votes in the workplace elections of workers' delegates (delegados de personal) and workers' committee (comité de empresa) held in 2003 (ES0309203T).

Background

During its period of government from 1996 to 2000, the conservative People's Party (Partido Popular, PP) had a minority in parliament. In various areas of industrial relations and social policy it was therefore forced to reach agreements with the trade unions or to accept agreements between the social partners - such as the 1997 intersectoral agreement for employment stability (ES9706211F), which helped to curb the increase in precarious employment (though it remains very high) and to start a fall in the unemployment rate.

Matters changed in the PP’s term of government from 2000 to 2004, when it had an absolute majority. During this period, the trade unions were unable to achieve agreements of equal importance. They tried several times, without success, to negotiate some form of regulation to provide greater protection for precarious workers and to penalise the abuse of precarious contracts. While they found new health and safety legislation acceptable in theory, the unions were unable to persuade the government to provide what they regarded as sufficient funding to reduce the number of accidents at work (ES0202213F). Despite considerable efforts, the unions were also unable to obtain immigration legislation that in their view rationalised the arrival of immigrants and protected them from exploitation (ES0310107F). In May 2002, the PP government passed a law on the reform of unemployment benefit, which met with considerable public opposition (ES0206210F). In this case, following a one-day general strike on 20 June 2002 (ES0207201N), the government withdrew its proposals and repealed the law (ES0212201N).

During this period, problems arose between CC.OO and the General Workers’ Confederation (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT), and also within CC.OO. UGT did not accept an agreement that CC.OO reached with the government and employers in 2001 on the reform of the state pensions system (ES0106144F), mainly because it included the possibility of increasing the number of years of employment used to calculate pensions and thus of reducing pensions. However, the CC.OO general secretary, José María Fidalgo, and the majority group within the confederation claim that this action on pensions has been beneficial for many workers and guarantees the stability of the system. CC.OO also did not support a two-hour general strike called by UGT in April 2003 in protest at Spain's involvement in the war in Iraq (ES0304203N).

Internal differences

At CC.OO's eighth congress, there were three groupings among the delegates:

• the majority tendency, led by the incumbent general secretary, with 60% of the delegates;

• a longstanding 'critical' tendency, led by Agustín Moreno, with 23% of the delegates; and

• an 'alternative' trend, led by Rodolfo Benito, with 17% of the delegates. This group left the majority tendency in 2002 due to differences of opinion on some of the controversial issues outlined above.

The two minority tendencies accuse the majority and the general secretary of showing little respect for pluralism within the confederation in terms of the distribution of responsibilities, and of not accepting points of view that represent very substantial minorities - in some cases regional federations in which the minority tendencies are in the majority. They also claim that CC.OO has lost the initiative by being too keen on reaching agreements. This, it is claimed, has led the confederation to accept some very negative points such as the increase in the calculation period for pensions, which in the long term will decrease the income of pensioners (see above). The critics are in favour of using conflict to achieve more favourable provisions, whereas the majority place their trust in gradual dialogue and bargaining with the government and the employers.

The majority tendency feels that the minority groupings have an overly political view of the trade union movement, which is out of touch with the day-to-day problems of workers. Furthermore, the majority claims that its opponents fail to accept the decisions reached democratically by majority voting in CC.OO's statutory bodies.

These debates are not new, and CC.OO has been a plural organisation since its foundation. The different tendencies have always come together at crucial moments even though they have entered into bitter disputes at congresses. However, perhaps more than ever personal positions have now widened the differences in terms of strategy and specific policies.

At the eighth congress, the differences between the various factions were expressed through votes against the incumbent general secretary and his team and the presentation of three separate lists of candidates for the governing bodies. This has always happened but, unusually, on this occasion two candidates competed for the post of general secretary: Mr Fidalgo won with 59% of the votes against the 29% obtained by Mr Moreno. However, when the confederation's programme of action for the next four years was debated on the last day of the congress, relative unity returned with 78% of votes cast in favour.

Position towards new government

In April 2004, following the general election in March (ES0404102N), a new minority Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español, PSOE) government was sworn in, led by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (ES0405202N). The CC.OO congress indicated that its positions largely coincide with those of the new government, which was represented by the new Minister of Labour, Jesús Caldera. Both agree on the main problems facing workers in Spain today - unstable employment and the high unemployment rate. They also agree on the need for policies that place Spain at least at the average levels of the 'old' EU 15 in terms of key labour and social indicators. Both agree that the recent expansion of the EU is right, but represents a challenge for Spain because it threatens certain competitive differentials that have led to an increase in Spanish employment in recent years.

CC.OO asked the government for honesty (ie keeping its promises), transparency and dialogue with the social partners as a fundamental tool for dealing with change. On this point, it is in agreement with UGT. The Ministry of Labour issued an official reply that there would be no reforms by decree.

Four-year programme

The general aim of CC.OO stated at the 2004 congress is the same as four years ago: to improve employment and to maintain and improve the systems of social protection as a fundamental basis of the welfare of all workers. This is expressed by the slogan 'secure employment for all with rights' ('empleo para todos, seguro y con derechos'). The instrument advocated for achieving this is a profound change in the model of production in order to increase research and development and promote human resources. CC.OO argues for competitiveness combined with high-quality employment.

To this end, the congress approved a series of objectives in a general report accompanied by specific action programmes. The key aim is to reinforce trade union presence in companies by increasing their intervention and reaching small companies through CC.OO's sectoral and regional structures. It is at company level that CC.OO recruits the membership that it wishes to continue increasing as a source of legitimacy and strength. It wishes to maximise its usefulness to workers by increasing its efficacy and transparency. The confederation wants to promote collective bargaining and articulate the more general, higher-level agreements with the more specific, lower-level ones, using the national sectoral agreement as the central axis. Employment quality and security should involve mainly consolidating a high-quality, sustainable industrial fabric, in view of the fact that a large part of Spanish production creates little added value, fails to take full advantage of the available resources and neglects the environment. Special attention should be paid to decentralisation and subcontracting because of their negative effect on employment, working conditions and industrial relations. Companies should be urged to show social responsibility, which means respect for labour, social and environmental regulations. A fundamental priority is to work for true equality in employment, firstly between men and women, but also in terms of other groups facing discrimination, such as the young, immigrants and people with disabilities.

For each of these priorities, the congress adopted a thorough programme. In each case the current situation is analysed, two or three major objectives are set, proposals for action are made and the means of intervention and assessment are indicated. This suggests a degree of modernisation in CC.OO's approach, indicating that it has clearly accepted the principles and instruments of strategic planning.

Commentary

The eighth congress of CC.OO attracted attention from both politicians and the public, because it is the largest trade union organisation in Spain. The confederation has decided to meet the challenges of globalisation and the expansion of the EU head-on by supporting a new model: competing by increasing productivity. This model must be handled with care, because it does not include proposals of moderation to avoid excessive development and may come into conflict with environmental issues.

CC.OO also wishes to maintain the European model of employment and welfare and to extend it to the whole of society, including immigrants. This will undoubtedly involve considering not only production and employment, but also taxation and social policy. It will also involve policies of equality in addition to those of equal opportunities, which to some extent involve competitiveness between workers.

The policies of the new Socialist government will be an essential element in all of this. The consensus between the government and the trade unions that has marked the beginning of the new administration's term is a good sign, but one should not forget the serious disputes that arose between the trade unions and the Socialist government between 1986 and 1996. (Fausto Miguélez, QUIT)