Employers' organisations in Spain examined

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At the end of the 20th century, the organisation of employers in Spain is complex and influenced by special characteristics, arising from the political structure of the country and the highly regional nature of industrial relations. We review the main structures and trends.

The main Spanish employers' organisation, the Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organisations (Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales, CEOE), was set up in June 1977 as a result of the union of a number of regional and sectoral organisations (some long-standing, some more recent). At the beginning of 1980, the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Confederación Española de la Pequeña y Mediana Empresa, CEPYME) joined CEOE, although it maintains a certain degree of autonomy. Outside CEOE-CEPYME, there are a number of other employers' associations, which can be sectoral - for example, in agriculture - or general associations focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises - such as COPYME and regional bodies in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia- or local, but they are far less important.

CEOE-CEPYME's structure is based on "base organisations" (organizaciones de base), the structures to which companies mostly belong. These organisations are in turn grouped in both national sectoral bodies and territorial (mainly regional and provincial) intersectoral bodies. Though the "grass-roots" of CEOE are companies themselves, strictly speaking its members are the base organisations, which are taken in account in determining the constitution of management bodies, the internal representation of the sectoral and territorial organisations and so on. The links between the base organisations and the companies are of a highly varied nature: from regular financial contributions to consultation on specific issues or mere informational links.

Sectoral organisations

At the end of 1998 there were 131 sectoral associations affiliated to CEOE-CEPYME (compared with 114 in 1985). They are responsible for bargaining policy in their particular sector (whether bipartite or tripartite) and for the development of labour costs in that sector. While all the associations are national, their sphere of activity varies considerably, including:

• organisations that embrace a whole sector, such as construction (Confederación Nacional de la Construcción, CNC), chemicals (Federación Empresarial de la Industria Química Española, FEIQUE) or banking (Asociación Española de Banca, AEB);

• those that embrace a very important subsector, such as automobiles and motors (Asociación Española de Fabricantes de Automóviles y Camiones, ANFAC), large distribution companies (Asociación Nacional de Medianas y Grandes Empresas de Distribución, ANGED) and clothing manufacturers (Federación Española de Empresas de la Confección, FEDECON); and

• those that cover a relatively small and specialised area, such as chicken production, glass and ceramics (Confederación Empresarial Española del Vidrio y la Cerámica) and petrol stations.

The reason for this enormous diversity, which currently shows a tendency to increase, is the autonomy of the member organisations of CEOE in collective bargaining, which is a fundamental principle of employers' organisation in Spain. The history and tradition of collective bargaining (going back to 1960) also contribute to this situation. However, although the lower-level associations are not without importance, there is a clear tendency to create "peak organisations" for the large sectors. This will be essential in terms of European social policy, since European social partner organisations are far more centralised.

Territorial organisations

Territorial employers' organisations affiliated to CEOE-CEPYME are also increasing in number - in 1985 there were 50 and at the end of 1998 there were 55. Their functions are more "political": they coordinate sectoral organisations and negotiate and hold dialogue with the trade unions and political parties in their geographical area.

Most of the territorial organisations are at provincial level - such as that for Cádiz, the Confederación de Empresarios de la Provincia de Cádiz- but in the last few years organisations at the level of autonomous communities (regions) have been playing a more important role. Some of these latter organisations have a long history, such as the Catalan Fomento del Trabajo. Others, such as the Madrid organisation, Confederación Empresarial de Madrid-CEOE (CEIM), arose in the early days of the political transition to democracy. Yet others are the result of the union of territorial organisations at lower level, some of which are today powerful - examples being the Basque (Confederación Empresarial Vasca, CONFEBASK) and the Andalusian (Confederación de Empresarios de Andalucía, CEA) organisations. Finally, there are also local organisations in large and medium-sized cities.

The territorial organisations are important due to the diversity in labour policies, industrial relations and working conditions between geographical areas. In several autonomous communities, Regional Economic and Social Councils (Consejos Económicos y Sociales Autonómicos) have been established as a forum for agreements on labour policies in the particular region. Also, in some districts or cities, local bargaining and agreements (or disagreements) on local development and employment pacts have consolidated the position of the employers' associations at this level.

In summary, though CEOE's role in national economic and labour policy is beyond doubt, the importance of employers' organisations at territorial level has been the most outstanding feature in Spanish employers' representation over the last few years.

Base organisations

The "base organisations" that make up the "membership" of CEOE-CEPYME are of enormous complexity and diversity. In some cases the old pre-industrial "guilds" (gremios) took on the functions of an employers' association. Some associations were formed later during the Franco regime, and yet others were formed recently in new areas of production and services. Some of these organisations carry out bargaining with trade unions at provincial level. Others form a larger group for this purpose. There are also those that merely act in an advisory capacity on labour problems.

Companies

Some large companies are directly affiliated to the CEOE and others to the sectoral organisations, but most are affiliated to the base organisations. It is very difficult to know how many companies are really members of employers' bodies, partly due to the current trend towards diversity in employers' organisation. According to the leaders of the national associations, there are between 1.1 million and 1.3 million member companies, which would account for some 75% of employment in Spain. However, some experts calculate that employer membership accounts for 60% of the labour force. A study carried out a few years ago in the Barcelona area ("Economía, trabajo y empresa" [The economy, work and the company], QUIT, CES, 1997) in which employers with 10 or more employees were interviewed, calculated that 54% of companies were members. Obviously, membership is lower among small companies than among medium-sized and large ones.

Commentary

Spanish employers' organisation seems to be stronger in political terms than in economic terms. In other words, it has a greater capacity to influence the leaders of the social partners (trade unions, governments) at general level than their members, due to the forms of organisation described above.

The political influence is shown in the presence of the employers' associations in debates and decisions on economic and social policy, and in tripartite, national and international institutions.

The low level of economic and labour influence can be explained in various ways:

• the type of membership - many employers have a very loose affiliation;

• the size of Spanish companies. According to the latest available statistics (for 1997), only 127,000 companies of the more than 2.5 million - 1.5 million have no employees - have 10 or more employees. Microenterprises are therefore predominant; and

• it should not be forgotten that the culture of belonging to an employers' association is a learning process, and a tradition which was interrupted in Spain for many years.

All of this explains why Spanish employers' associations are sometimes referred to as having great political power and little disciplinary capacity (ie ability to influence their members). (Faustino Miguélez, QUIT-UAB).