Editing Workers' Commissions (section)

==History==

===Birth and role in Francoist Spain===
Taking as reference the clandestine union [[Oposición Sindical Obrera]] (OSO) the first workers' commissions were organized during 1960 in [[Asturies]], [[Catalonia]], [[Madrid]] and the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque provinces]] of [[Gipuzkoa]] and [[Bizkaia]] as labor disputes emerged outside the [[Francoism|Francoist]] [[Sindicato Vertical|national-syndical]] [[Movimiento Nacional|movement]]. Originally the "commissions" were representative bodies of workers elected in assemblies. The first "comisiones" were boosted by the [[Communist Party of Spain]] (PCE), Christian labor movements ([[Young Christian Workers|JOC]] and {{ill|Workers' Fraternity of Catholic Action|es|Hermandad Obrera de Acción Católica|lt=HOAC}}) and other groups opposed to the [[Spanish State]]. Gradually the ''[[ad hoc]]'' commissions started to become permanent, creating a stable and well organized movement.

For many historians, one of the first places where the Workers' Commissions were formed was the valley of [[Laciana]] ([[province of León]]), within the Minero Siderurgica de Ponferrada (MSP) industry. Another place that sometimes is also cited as the first is ''[[La Camocha, Asturias coal mine|La Camocha]]'' mine ([[Gijón]]) in 1957, during a strike.<ref>«[http://www.fundacionjuanmunizzapico.org/masInf/breveHistoriaCCOO.htm CC. OO. Breve historia]». Fundación Juan Muñiz Zapico.</ref> The [[Asturian miners' strike of 1962]] ("La Huelgona") was the first massive action of the union and one of the first massive popular mobilizations against Francoist Spain.

The union was heavily repressed in Spain. In 1972 all the leadership of CCOO was jailed, being judged in the infamous [[Proceso 1001]]. They remained imprisoned until the trial, more than a year later. This finally took place on 20 (day that coincided with the assassination of Prime Minister [[Luis Carrero Blanco]], which led to the suspension of the trial for a few hours), 21 and 22 December 1973. The defendants faced the accusation of belonging to an illegal and subversive organization, and of having links with the [[Communist Party of Spain]] (PCE).<ref>RECIO GARCÍA, Armando. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, ed. «[http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2298369 La prensa jurídica en el tardofranquismo: el Proceso 1001]».</ref> On December 30 convictions were announced, which coincided with requests of the prosecutor and whose severity was considered related to the murder of [[Carrero Blanco]]. The convictions were the following: [[Marcelino Camacho]], 20 years of jail; [[Nicolás Sartorius]], 19; Miguel Ángel Zamora Antón, 12; Pedro Santiesteban, 12; Eduardo Saborido, 20; Francisco García Salve, 19; Luis Fernández, 12; Francisco Acosta, 12; Juan Muñiz Zapico Juanín, 18; and Fernando Soto Martín, 17. They were amnestied on 25 November 1975.

The tactic of CCOO was [[entryism]], i.e.: infiltration in the [[Sindicato Vertical|Vertical Unions]] of Francoism. This tactic culminated in the union elections of 1975, where CCOO got the overwhelming majority of the delegates elected in the major companies in the country. CCOO led numerous strikes and labor mobilizations in late Francoism and the [[Spanish Transition]].<ref>[http://www.reis.cis.es/REIS/PDF/REIS_026_06.pdf El movimiento obrero en la transición. Objetivos políticos y organizativos.] Robert M. Fishman. Reis: Revista española de investigaciones sociológicas, {{ISSN|0210-5233}}, Nº 26, 1984, pages:. 61-112</ref>

===Transition and 1980's===
Since the [[Spanish transition|democratic transition]] until 1987 its secretary general was the historic union leader [[Marcelino Camacho]], also a prominent leader of the [[Communist Party of Spain|PCE]] and [[Congreso de los Diputados|deputy]] between 1977 and 1981. In 1976 CCOO held the Assembly of Barcelona, where the modern class trade union confederation was formed. CCOO was legalized on 27 April 1977. The [[Atocha massacre|murder of 5 labor lawyers in 1977]] (members of the union and the PCE) in Madrid that year was followed by a massive funeral, more than 250,000 people participated, and the strikes that followed helped the legalization of the organization. In those years the union is growing rapidly in membership, like the rest of unions and leftist parties. From 1976 to 1978, CCOO went from 30,000 to 1,823,907 members. However, after the signing of the [[Moncloa Pacts]], this figure gradually begun to descend, passing to 702,367 in 1981 and 332,019 in 1986. This negative trend in membership started to change since 1987.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412174842/http://www.ccoo.es/comunes/temp/recursos/1/155484.pdf |title=La evolución de la afiliación a CC. OO.: 1978-2007 |work=Confederación Sindical de CC. OO. |url=http://www.ccoo.es/comunes/temp/recursos/1/155484.pdf |archive-date=12 April 2012 |access-date=7 March 2019 |language=es |date=November 2008 |pages=113}}</ref> In those years CCOO also suffered various splits. In 1976 the [[Confederación de Sindicatos Unitarios de Trabajadores]] (CSUT), a group of CCOO members affiliated with the [[Party of Labour of Spain]] (PTE) split from the organization. In May 1977 CCOO suffered another split, this time from supporters of the [[Maoism|maoist]] [[Workers' Revolutionary Organisation]] (ORT), that formed the [[Sindicato Unitario]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Molina Blázquez |first=José |title=Apuntes para: orígenes y evolución de la Organización Revolucionaria de Trabajadores |date=December 2009 |url=http://ort-ujm.es/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=263&Itemid=123 |access-date=7 March 2019 |work=[[Organización Revolucionaria de Trabajadores]]-[[Unión de Juventudes Maoistas]]}}</ref>

The year after legalization in 1978, CCOO held its I Confederal Congress, where [[Marcelino Camacho]] was reelected, what would happen again in the Second (1981) and III (1984) congresses. CCOO also was the most voted union (37.8% of the representatives) in the [[Spanish trade union representative elections, 1978|workers representative elections of 1978]], the first democratic ones in the [[history of Spain]]. In this last congress, different factions emerged, including a majority linked to [[Communist Party of Spain|PCE]] (led by [[Marcelino Camacho]]) and three minorities, respectively linked to the [[Workers' Party of Spain – Communist Unity]] (PTE-UC) (called ''[[Santiago Carrillo|carrillistas]]'' and led by Julián Ariza); the [[Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain]] (PCPE); and the [[Revolutionary Communist League (Spain)|Revolutionary Communist League]] and the [[Communist Movement]] (known as ''Izquierda Sindical'').<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.caesasociacion.org/movimiento_obrero_sindicalismo/ficheros/transicion_politica_espa%f1ola_sindicalismo_radical.pdf |title=Transición política y sindicalismo radical |work=Centro de Asesoría y Estudios Sociales |language=es |pages=6 |access-date=7 March 2019 |archive-date=16 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316155052/http://www.caesasociacion.org/movimiento_obrero_sindicalismo/ficheros/transicion_politica_espa%EF%BF%BDola_sindicalismo_radical.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1980, CCOO received an important part of the [[Unión Sindical Obrera|USO]] members, that belonged to the [[socialist self-management]] current. In 1986 the union participated in the historical mobilizations against the permanence of Spain in [[NATO]]. CCOO asked for a "NO" vote in the [[Spanish NATO membership referendum, 1986|NATO referendum]].

CCOO called 4 general strikes in the government of [[Felipe González]]: 1985, 1988, 1992 and 1994; against the economic and employment policy of the [[PSOE]] government. Especially massive and historic was the [[1988 Spanish general strike]], organized jointly with the [[Unión General de Trabajadores|UGT]], which had a 95% of following, and forced the government to totally withdraw the Youth Employment Plan.

===90s to today===
[[File:Sindicatos Tarragona.jpg|thumb|Headquarters of CCOO and other unions in [[Tarragona]].]]
[[File:Huelga general del 14 de noviembre de 2012 en Madrid (27).jpg|thumb|General strike on November 14, 2012, in [[Madrid]].]]
Since the Fourth Congress (1987), the union's general secretary was [[Antonio Gutiérrez Vegara|Antonio Gutiérrez]], reelected in the V Congress (1991). During his mandate CCOO distanced itself from the [[Communist Party of Spain|PCE]] and a preference for negotiations and the social pacts over strikes and conflictivity<!-- Conflictivity? Is that a word? --> was promoted. This was criticized by a faction known as the [[Critical Sector of CCOO]], supported by [[Marcelino Camacho]] and Agustin Moreno, in the sixth Congress (1996). The [[Critical Sector of CCOO]] has continued to organize the most pro-[[Communist Party of Spain|PCE]] sector of CCOO since then.

In the VII Congress (2000) José Maria Fidalgo was chosen as the new secretary general, being re-elected at the Eighth Congress in April 2004.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.eldia.es/2004-04-25/dinero/dinero8.htm |title=Fidalgo triunfa en el 8º Congreso de CC. OO., que califica de plural "sin miedo" |newspaper=[[El Día (Canary Islands)|El Día]] |date=25 April 2004 |access-date=7 March 2019 |language=es |location=Madrid |publisher=Editorial Leoncio Rodríguez, S.A.}}</ref> In 2002 CCOO and UGT called for a [[general strike]] against a decree of the government of [[José María Aznar]] that made firings cheaper, eliminated [[agricultural subsidy|agricultural subsidies]] and encouraged job insecurity, known as the ''decretazo''. After protests the measure was withdrawn almost entirely. In this cycle CCOO reached again over one million members. CCOO also opposed the [[Iraq War]] and participated in the [[Protests against the Iraq War|massive protests against it]].

CCOO held its IX Confederal Congress in December 2008, with 1.2 million members and 120,000 elected delegates in the workplaces of [[Spain]] at the time. At the Ninth Congress [[Ignacio Fernández Toxo]] was elected general secretary, surpassing by 28 votes [[José María Fidalgo]].<ref>{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220172240/http://www.adn.es/politica/20081219/NWS-3178-toxo-gana-secretaria-general-ccoo.html |title=Toxo vence a Fidalgo por 28 votos y se hace con la Secretaría General de CC. OO. |newspaper=[[ADN.es]] |date=19 December 2008 |access-date=7 March 2019 |archive-date=20 December 2008 |url=http://www.adn.es/politica/20081219/NWS-3178-toxo-gana-secretaria-general-ccoo.html |language=es}}</ref>