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History

The Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT, Workers' General Union) is a major Spanish trade union, historically affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). The UGT was founded August 12, 1888 by Pablo Iglesias Posse, in relation with Marxist socialism, despite its statutory apolitical status. Until its XIV Congress of 1920, it did not consider class struggle as a basic principle of union action. Although the UGT could never establish formal unity with the PSOE, the union has been related to the PSOE since its founding, to the point that being a member of the UGT supposed an affiliation to the PSOE and vice versa.

In the World War I era, the UGT followed a tactical line of close relationship and unity of action with Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT, National Labour Confederation) and the Communists. This era came to a sudden end with the the advent of the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, who gave a legal monopoly on labor organizing to his own government-sposored union. While the CNT opted for a radical confrontation with the regime, and were prohibited on this account, the UGT, although in disagreement with the dictatorship, adopted a collaborative attitude in order to continue to operate legally. The radicalization during the period of the Second Spanish Republic of the wing led by Francisco Largo Caballero, when the UGT surpassed a million members, and the bloody breakout of the Spanish Civil War deepened the internal fissures that resulted in the departure of Largo Caballero from the position of UGT secretary general in 1937.

General Francisco Franco's victory in the Civil War left confined the UGT to exile and clandesitinity in the middle part of the 20th century. The Union emerged from secrecy during the democratic transition after Franco's death, as did the Communist Workers' Commisions (Comisiones Obreras, CCOO). UGT and CCOO, between them, constitute the major avenues for workers' representation in today's Spain.

Objectives

The UGT declares itself to be an institution of productive workers, organized along lines of trades and liberal professions, which respects freedom of thought, leading toward the transformation of the society, in order to establish it on the basis of social justice, equality and solidarity .

Federations and Foundations

• Metal and Construction (Metal, Construcción y Afines - MCA)
• Federation of Transport, Communication and Sea (Federación de Transportes, Comunicaciones y Mar - FTCM)
• Federation of Commerce, Catering-Tourism and Games (Federación de Comercio, Hostelería-Turismo y Juego - FCHTJ)
• Federation of Public Services (Federación de Servicios Públicos - FSP)
• Pensioners's Union (Unión de Jubilados y Pensionistas - UJP)
• Federation of Agroalimentary (Federación Agroalimentaria-FTA)
• Federation of Light Industries (Federación de Industrias Afines - FIA)
• Federation of Education Workers (Federación de Trabajadores de la Enseñanza - FETE)
• Federation of Services (Federación de Servicios - FeS)
• Independent Workers's Union (Unión de Trabajadores por Cuenta Propia - UTCP)
• Small Farmers's Union (Unión de pequeños Agricultures - UPA)
• Professionals and Autonomous Workers' Union (Unión de Profesionales y Trabajadores Autónomos - UPTA)

The Unión de Trabajadores por Cuenta Propia (UTCP, Union of Self-Employed Workers) is not an organism of UGT. It is a bottom-up association, formed by the farmers' union UPA and the professional and autonomous workers' union, UPTA, who united in this manner to enhance their representation inside the Union and to form a united front on factional issues where they have common interests.

External links

• UGT - Unión General de Trabajadores - UGT website

References

Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Spanish-language wikipedia article, accessed April 11 2005.