Sindicato Unitario
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Founded | May 1, 1977 |
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Location |
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Members | 47,000 (1977) |
Key people | José Miguel Ibarrola, general secretary |
Sindicato Unitario ("Unitary Trade Union", abbreviated SU) is a
Split in CC.OO.
The organization emerged from a split away from
Founding congress
SU was founded at a clandestine congress on May 1, 1977 in Madrid.[5][7] The civil government of Madrid had prohibited the group from holding the congress, citing concerns about disturbances to the 'public order'.[8] Around one thousand unionists had gathered. The congress approved the name, symbol and statues of the new organization.[7]
The organization identified itself as a class-based union, seeking to engage in
Ibarrola was elected general secretary of SU. Cristino Domenech was elected second secretary. Five other secretariat members were elected; Jesús San Martín, Luis Royo, Pedro Cristóbal, Paco Esteban and María del Carmen Fraile. SU had invited other unions to the closing session of the congress, but only CSUT and a French group called 'Revolutionary Trade Union Opposition' were present.[7][10]
Organization
At the time of its foundation SU was estimated to have a membership of 47,000. Its strongholds were Navarre, Cantabria, Madrid, Cáceres, Badajoz, Burgos and Murcia.[7] In June 1977, a statewide council of SU was elected.[11]
As of 1978, the organization had 217 offices across the country.[12] Cristino Domenech was the first secretary of SU in Madrid.[13] At the time, SU claimed a membership of 500,000.[14]
1978 trade union election
In the
SU emerged as a major force in
SU won the election at the conservative newspaper ABC in Madrid.[21][22] At the Barajas printing centre, SU won 7 out of the 13 committee seats. At the calle Serrano editorial and administrative office, SU won 7 out of 22 seats.[2]
SU dedicated its
Second Congress
The second congress of SU convened in Madrid on May 25, 1978. Around one thousand delegates took part in the event, which had the slogan 'Common front against the Social Pact'. The dias carried the portrait of Joaquín Macías, a SU leader from Badajoz that had died in an accident. A number of international delegations visited the congress, from Germany, France, Argentina, Italy and Portugal.[23][24] The congress approved new statues for the organization.[25]
Decline
The electoral failures of ORT in the
The third congress SU was held in June 1980.[31][32] At the congress Ibarrola discarded the possibility of a merger with CSUT. Instead the majority of the SU leadership proposed taking part in unity processes from below, such as the Confederación Sindical Galega. A minority, headed by Miguel Jesús Sánchez (provincial secretary from SU in Valladolid and member of the confederal secretariat of SU) and supported by the SU organizations in Madrid and Biscay, argued in favour of a merger with CC.OO.[31]
SU applied for membership in the European Trade Union Confederation in 1980, but this request was denied as the organization was perceived as lacking representativity amongst workers in Spain.[33]
SU and CSUT did not launch campaigns of their own ahead of the 1980 trade union elections. Rather, they took part in building workers unity slates (especially at the level of the autonomous communities).[34]
SU continues to exist in places like Huelva, Madrid, Cantabria and Barcelona.[26] SU is active in the Barcelona Metro, having won four delegate seats in the 2006 trade union election and three seats in 2010.[35]
References
- ^ Gunther, Richard, Giacomo Sani, and Goldie Shabad. Spain After Franco: The Making of a Competitive Party System; [with a New Epilogue]. Berkeley [u.a.]: Univ. of Calif. Press, 1988. p. 203
- ^ a b Sindicato Unitario de Catalunya. QUIENES SOMOS Archived 2008-11-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Carr, Raymond, and Juan Pablo Fusi Aizpurúa. Spain, Dictatorship to Democracy. London: Harper Collins Academic, 1981. p. xvii
- ^ Brugos Salas, Valentín. La izquierda revolucionaria en Asturias. Los diferentes intentos de construcción de un proyecto alternativo al PCE Archived 2013-12-11 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d Lieberman, Sima. Labor Movements and Labor Thought: Spain, France, Germany, and the United States. New York: Praeger, 1986. pp. 95-96
- ^ Aracil Martí, Rafael, Antoni Segura, and Macià Alavedra i Moner. Memòria de la transició a Espanya i a Catalunya. Barcelona: Edicions Universitat de Barcelona, 2000. p. 22
- ^ a b c d El País. Constituido el Sindicato Unitario
- ^ El País. Prohibido el congreso del Sindicato Unitario
- ^ Fishman, Robert M. Working-Class Organization and the Return to Democracy in Spain. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1990. p. 219
- ^ Harper, F. John. Trade Unions of the World. Detroit: Gale Research Co, 1987. p. 373
- ^ El País. Constituido el consejo estatal del Sindicato Unitario
- ^ Guinea, José Luis. Los movimientos obreros y sindicales en España de 1833 a 1978. Madrid: Ibérico Europea de Ediciones, 1978. p. 219
- ^ a b El País. El Sindicato Unitario centró la celebración obrera en su oposición al pacto de la Moncloa
- ^ El País. El SU centra su campaña en la consecución de un frente sindical común
- ^ El País. Las centrales ultiman sus campañas
- ^ El País. Comisiones Obreras y UGT han ganado en elecciones sindicales
- ^ El País. Hoy comienzan las votaciones en Navarra
- ^ Ramírez Sábada, José Luis, and Ignacio Aranda Pérez. Democratización y amejoramiento foral: una historia de la transición en Navarra (1975-1983). [Pamplona]: Gobierno de Navarra, Departamento de Presidencia e Interior, 1999. p. 162
- ^ Gran Enciclopedia Navarra. SINDICALISMO
- ^ El País. UGT pasa al primer lugar en Granada
- ^ El País. Amplia victoria del Sindicato Unitario en "ABC"
- ^ Eaton, Samuel Dickinson. The Forces of Freedom in Spain, 1974-1979: A Personal Account. Stanford, Calif: Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, 1981. p. 166
- ^ El País. Comienza en Madrid el II Congeso del Sindicato Unitario
- ^ Sindicato Unitario. Unidad Sindical, no. 10[permanent dead link]. June 1978
- ^ ABC. El Sindicato Unitario aprueba nuevos estatutos
- ^ a b En Lucha. [Entrevista Sindicato Unitario]
- ^ Revista de fomento social, Edition 157–160. 1985. p. 345
- ^ Berger, Suzanne. Organizing Interests in Western Europe: Pluralism, Corporatism, and the Transformation of Politics. Cambridge [Eng.]: Cambridge University Press, 1981. p. 397
- ^ El País. Hacia la fusión entre CSUT y SU
- ^ El País. Dificultades en la fusión SU-CSUT
- ^ a b El País. Intento minoritario del SU para integrarse en Comisiones Obreras
- ^ Sindicato Unitario. Unidad Sindical, no. 25[permanent dead link]. 1980.
- ^ El País. La Confederación Europea de Sindicatos rechaza el ingreso de SU, CSUT y SOC
- ^ El País. Hoy comienzan las elecciones sindicales
- ^ CGT FeTyG. LA CGT VUELVE A GANAR LAS ELECCIONES EN EL METRO DE BARCELONA Archived 2012-06-13 at the Wayback Machine