carried out a proper census of agrarian workers, the unions were given the task of
preparing the lists of the unemployed who would be eligible for EC money. Control over
these lists, and thus over the distribution of public employment, provided the unions with
a critical organizational resource. They used the Empleo Comunitario-funded public
works programs to facilitate collective action, gathering workers in one place to work
(fixing roads, for example) and to mobilize for more funds.
CC.OO had the strongest organizational penetration in the southern countryside,
system especially helped the Communist unions, as jornaleros affiliated with them in
The unions had repeatedly raised the issue that Empleo Comunitario needed to be
reformed in two general ways. First, they argued that it needed to be expanded and
regularized, so that every unemployed jornalero received a benefit; second, the unions
emphasized the need to maintain union participation in any new system.
Employers, it
should be noted, strongly opposed the EC system, which, they argued, distorted the labor
market and made for lazy workers. They complained that despite high levels of
unemployment, it was often difficult to find workers to do agricultural tasks, let alone
those willing to make the seasonal migrations required for harvests, because workers had
access to easy money simply by staying at home. Employers wanted social peace, but
they also wanted as fluid a labor market as possible.
C. The Demise of the Spanish Communist Party and the Radicalization of Communist
Union Demands (1982-1983)
The aftermath of Spain’s 1982 general elections witnessed the widespread
radicalization of political demands within the southern countryside, as the dominant
communist union broke from its earlier pattern of moderation. Strikes, lock-ins,
roadblocks and other forms of political protest were near-daily occurrences in the south
19
Convention