Spanish trade union representative elections, 1978

Elections of trade union representatives were held across Spain in the first months of 1978. These were the first democratic union elections in 40 years. According to the state news agency EFE, elections were held in 29,918 companies for a total of 124,579 representative posts during the first three months of 1978 (these figures did however exclude the two largest companies in the country, the railways RENFE and Telefonica). The newly elected company committees (comités de empresa) replaced the former jurados de empresa of the Franco era as the recognized employees' representatives.

Two national trade union centres, CC.OO. (linked to the Communist Party of Spain) and UGT (linked to the Spanish Socialist Workers Party), dominated the polls.

UGT had the largest campaign budget. They had sought a 300 million peseta loan from Germany, but this credit had been denied. In the end (according to their own estimation) UGT had a campaign budget on the national level of 100 million peseta. The organization opened a large campaign office in Madrid and produced key-chains, posters, stickers and an audio cassette. In their campaign UGT actively sought to highlight their socialist profile.

A third force was Unión Sindical Obrera. It received some support from the Popular Socialist Party and the Carlist Party. The campaign slogan of USO was "Trabajador, la USO sólo pacta contigo" ('Worker, USO only makes pact with you'). The slogan was a reference to the Moncloa Pact.

Prior to the election, the two groups that constituted the 'Minority Tendency' in CC.OO. had broken away and formed their own union centres, CSUT linked to the Party of Labour of Spain and Sindicato Unitario linked to the Workers Revolutionary Organization. The campaign slogan of CSUT was "La CSUT, el sindicato que habla claro, da soluciones a los problemas y jamás se vende" ('CSUT, the trade union that speaks out, gives solution to the problems and never sells out'). SU had the slogan "Un frente común por el pan, el trabajo y la libertad" ('A common front for bread, work and freedom').

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Wikipedia