Collective Bargaining in the Renewed Spanish Labour Law

Abstract

As in any other advanced democratic State, collective bargaining plays a central role in Spanish labour relations. Latest labour law reforms during the world financial crises have substantially affected this institution, and rules governing collective bargaining have changed profoundly, coherently with the general objective to increase employers’ ability to change its contents and to avoid the so-called “rigidification” of working conditions. Its role is formaly more important, but an objective analysis of this new regulations and its impact on Spanish labour relations leads to a completely different conclusion. It has been converted into an instrument of economic policy, with weaker collective agreements, allowing a general wage devaluation. This experience shows the vulnerability of collective labour law to external pressures. The temptation of using instruments of social dumping can be strong, producing changes in collective labour law that impose a model of collective bargaining unbalanced towards management’s interests.

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