Institutional resources as a source of trade union power in Southern Europe

Institutional resources are one of four sources of power available to trade unions (Gumbrell –McCormick and Hyman, 2013). Literature has tended to emphasize that they are indispensable but can be problematic. This paper examines how the use of institutional resources has served the Spanish trade union movement, in particular during the years of economic crisis. It shows how institutional resources when appropriately framed and prioritized by key actors can provide continuity to the structures of an industrial relations system and the role of trade unions in the face of a major external challenge. A comparison with Greece and Portugal, two other economically challenged Southern European societies, draws out the distinctive role and character of institutional resources in Spanish industrial relations. The paper, while acknowledging that industrial relations institutions in Spain have displayed plasticity in terms of outcomes in the context of concession bargaining, argues that the continuity of the institutions provides an essential platform for the role of the Spanish unions in both the industrial and societal spheres.