Trade union renewal against a background of national conflict: the strategies of the trade unions ELA and LAB in the Basque country (1976–2008)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The structural transformations of the world of work, together with certain strategic choices, have caused a crisis in unionism in Western Europe and distanced them from their social origins. As a result, the unions have needed to renew their strategies in order to revitalise their power. Using qualitative techniques of discourse analysis and in-depth interviews, we analyse the keys to the success of the Basque nationalist unions ELA and LAB and their strategic renewal stretching from the beginnings of the Spanish democratic transition until 2008, a process that occurred against a backdrop of national political conflict in the Basque Country. Firstly, we contextualise the particularity of the political, institutional and union situation in the Basque Country. Secondly, we go on to present the main keys to understanding the crisis of unionism in the West and strategies for revitalizing its power. Thirdly, we describe the methodology used for the analysis. Finally, we present the main results of the research.