The exercise of trade union rights in cooperatives: a study of their regulation in collective bargaining

Abstract

Cooperatives represent an ideal context for the expression of democratic values. In this respect, trade union organisations are called upon to play a fundamental role in our legal framework by articulating the defence of workers’ interests, both inside and outside companies. The confluence of trade union action and the democratic principles governing cooperatives is the subject of this study. Specifically, this paper analyses the collective bargaining carried out in cooperative societies, as an example of that confluence. The analysis takes into consideration, on the one hand, the characteristics of collective agreements and the representative bodies of workers that have negotiated them and, on the other hand, the content of the collective agreements that regulate trade union rights. The analysis of the sample of collective agreements reveals a complete map of collective bargaining in cooperatives according to functional, territorial, and personal scope, as well as the nature of the workers’ representatives and the trade union organisations involved. Moreover, the paper detects how collective agreements regulate trade union rights not only improving the legally protected competences and guarantees but also ensuring the effective exercise of the right to freedom of association for all workers.