Employment regulation in collective bargaining in Spain

Abstract

Concern surrounding employment issues such as job creation, job security and job quality has led to these issues being included in the collective bargaining process in Spain. Nevertheless, there are a number of matters which should receive greater attention from the social partners in future. Of particular importance is the need to co-ordinate collective bargaining in order to make it more flexible, i.e. more adaptable, whilst at the same time providing a stable framework in order to avoid the problems associated with the fragmentation of employment conditions. This article looks at the evolution of collective bargaining on employment issues since the end of the 1970s, as well as the social partners’ main bargaining demands with regard to these issues, and their most prominent characteristics.