The trade union response to labor flexibilization in the union press of Spain and the Federal Republic of Germany: the cases of IG Metall and Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO.)

Abstract

This paper examines the strategies and discourses of two prominent European trade union organisations—Germany’s Industriegewerkschaft Metall and Spain’s Comisiones Obreras—in relation to the introduction of labour flexibilisation within the context of the neoliberal revolution, from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. In response to the growing phenomenon of mass unemployment, most European governments implemented what came to be known as structural reform policies. Trade union leaderships identified and publicised—through their respective press outlets—the challenges posed by flexibilisation, including the erosion of job security, the fragmentation of the labour market, rising precariousness, and the loss of labour rights. Confronted with these developments, the trade union movement placed at the centre of its strategy the longstanding demand for a reduction in working hours.