The Ministry of Labour and Social Economy (MITES) is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for designing and implementing the government policy on labour and labour relations, employment, unemployment benefits and self-employment, social economy and corporate social responsibility.
The Labour Department was created by prime minister Eduardo Dato in 1920, and has existed ever since. In addition to labour-related responsibilities, in the past it has also had, for most of its history, powers over social security and social protection, immigration and, occasionally, over health care, trade, industry and justice affairs.
Its headquarters have been located in the Nuevos Ministerios government complex since the 1960s, and it also has additional offices for certain agencies throughout the city of Madrid. In addition, it has regional and provincial offices across the country.
History The idea of creating a ministerial department dedicated to labour issues arose during the reign of Alfonso XIII. This period was influenced by Krausism ideas, which, throughout the Restoration (1874–1931), contributed to social policies. Specifically, in Spain, the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (), created in 1876, was the first place where the "social question" was debated and it proposed the creation of various bodies aimed at addressing workers' problems and working conditions.
Thus, in 1883 the Commission on Social Reforms was created, which later became the Institute of Social Reforms in 1903. The latter's impetus led to the creation of other organizations such as the Labour Inspectorate in 1906 and the National Institute of Social Insurance in 1908. In parallel, Spanish legislation at the beginning of the 20th century began to delve deeper into these areas, with laws such as the Law on Workplace Accidents of 30 January 1900—the first law to address occupational risks and hold employers responsible for them—, the Law on Women and Children Labour of 13 March 1900, the Law on Sunday Rest of 3 March 1904, and the Law on the Right to Strike of 1909, among others. Furthermore, social pressure, exemplified by protests such as the La Canadenca strike, forced the adoption of measures such as the eight-hour workday in 1919.
Twentieth century The Ministry of Labour was created on 8 May 1920, during the third government of Eduardo Dato, however, it was not a new idea and it had two immediate precedents.
In May 1913, the second government of the Count of Romanones sent a bill to the Cortes to create a Ministry of Labour, Trade and Industry, with the aim of having it operational by July 1, 1913. However, when the Count left the government in October of that year, the bill was still under discussion and was not passed.
In April 1914, King Alfonso XIII stated in his opening speech to the Cortes the intention of his government to create this department. Indeed, Prime Minister Dato embraced his predecessor's idea and immediately requested an official report from the Institute of Social Reforms on the advisability of creating a Ministry of Labour in Spain. This report, however, was not favorable to its creation, since the Institute believed that Spain still lacked a consolidated labour system and its agencies, such as the labour inspectorate, were not fully developed, and therefore recommended focusing efforts on addressing these issues. Furthermore, the outbreak of World War I ultimately shelved the project.Once the war was over, Dato formed his third government on 6 May 1920. Two days later, King Alfonso gave royal assent to the decrees establishing the new government department and appointing Carlos Cañal y Migolla as first minister of labour.
This new ministry brought together all those bodies and agencies related to the "social question" already mentioned above that were in the Ministry of the Interior. Likewise, the Labour Bureau of the Directorate-General for Trade, Industry and Labour of the Ministry of Development, the Emigration Council, and the Board of Engineers and Pensioned Abroad Workers were also integrated into this new ministry. All this entailed the loss of powers of the Institute of Social Reforms, which would be abolished in May 1924.
In 1922, similar to the 1913 project, the department was renamed "Ministry of Labour, Trade and Industry" by assuming powers from the ministries of Development—trade and industry—and of Public Instruction and Fine Arts—statistics—. The industry and trade responsibilities were transferred to the new Ministry of National Economy (today known as Ministry of Industry) in 1928.
In a time of great conflict, in 1923 General Miguel Primo de Rivera, 2nd Marquess of Estella established a dictatorship that would last until 1930. At first, he abolished the ministry and appointed Alejandro García Martín, a civil servant, as the person responsible for the affairs of the "Department of Labour, Trade and Industry". Later, the dictator established that the departments would be managed by the under-secretary and in June 1924 the Institue for Social Reforms is abolished, being replace it by the Labour Council, as an advisory body.
It was a time of great labour advances, perhaps because some reformist members of the defunct Institute of Social Reforms held important positions in the Ministry, approving relevant regulations such as the first Labour Code in 1926, the Home-based work Regulation of 1927—which aimed to regulate and provide some protection for manual labour carried out at home, predominantly by women—and the Emmigration Law—to protect Spanish workers abroad. Also, similar to Italian fascist institutions, Minister Aunós introduced corporatism through the Organización Corporativa Nacional. Furthermore, vocational training was promoted to end what Primo de Rivera described as "technical illiteracy", approving the Industrial Education Statute and a Social School for this purpose.
Second Republic The second Spanish republican period emphasized its social character, establishing a "democratic republic of workers of all classes, organized under a regime of Liberty and Justice" and was characterized by significant governmental instability, which was clearly reflected in the Ministry of Labour. During the eight years of the republic, the department changed its name several times, being merged with Justice and Health on various occasions, and 18 persons served as labour minister.
Despite this, the constitutionalization of labour rights represents a period of significant protection, especially with the establishment of the Constitutional Guarantees Court (predecessor of the current Constitutional Court). This led to the establishment of rights such as freedom of movement, freedom of profession, immigration and emigration rights, and the recognition of freedom of association and unionization, among others. The Constitution also recognized the protection of the rights of children and women in the workplace, as well as the right to private ownership of the means of production, although these are limited to the public interest (and may be socialized or expropriated).
During Francisco Largo Caballero's tenure as labour minister, significant legislative work was carried out through decrees, most of which were subsequently ratified and made law by the Cortes. These included decrees on Workers' Associations, rural leases, forced labour, collective leases, and the implementation of workers' compensation insurance in rural areas, among others. At the same time, the parliament passed relevant legislation such as the 1931 Labour Contract Law—which regulated in depth all labour aspects and established a system of precedence of sources similar to the current one: law, working bases, collective agreements or conventions and regulations—or the active collaboration that the department had in the design of the agararian reform fostered by agriculture minister Marcelino Domingo which, among other objectives, sought to improve the conditions of rural workers.
Following Largo Caballero's departure from the ministry, instability skyrocketed, and the ministry entered a period of "corrective action", reversing some of Largo Caballero's labour policies and reducing the power of workers on the mixed juries (which oversaw labour contracts). Furthermore, with Federico Salmón's arrival at the department in 1935, the focus shifted to the problem of unemployment. This led to the approval of the Unemployment Prevention Law of 1935, known as the Salmón Law, which aimed to combat unemployment by building housing, guaranteeing tax advantages for construction companies, and promoting and regulating the construction of rural schools for the children of farmers. Salmon's team drafted 18 bills in just over seven months, among which the reform of mixed juries, the creation of the National Board of Relief for the Involuntarily Unemployed, and the new dignity granted to labour inspectors stand out.
During the Civil War, labour issues were divided into two separate areas, developed in parallel on each side of the conflict. On the Republican side, the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Welfare was maintained, while on the Nationalist side, following the Labour Council, the Ministry of Organization and Trade Union Action was established, which after the war would revert to its original name of "Labour".
Dictatorship of Francisco Franco
Under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, a significant interventionist effort was undertaken in the world of labour and workers, with the aim of controlling what remained of the labour movement. Specifically, the regime suppressed the freedoms of association, assembly and strike, as well as limited collective bargaining, and reduced the labour movement to the Vertical Syndicate, thus establishing state control over the working class. The Ministry of Labour was the centre of this new labour corporatism, expanding its capacity for action, establishing even the smallest details of working conditions, and dictating all measures related to work activity, including: job categories, wages, working hours, working conditions, rest periods, vacations, disciplinary actions, and so on.
To ensure the workers loyalty, the first law to be passed was the Labour Charter () in 1938, a fundamental law that established the ideological, political and economic principles that were to govern the "New State". Another of these regulations was the Trade Union Unity Law of 1940, which created the Vertical Syndicate—and which was developed by the Law of Bases of the Trade Union Organization—where employers and workers were grouped together, an organization controlled by the National Delegation of Trade Unions, which was attached to the FET and of the JONS until 1971, when the position of the Minister for Trade Union Relations was created and the powers over trade union relations properly returned to the State.
Between 1941 and 1957, José Antonio Girón, described as the "standard-bearer of Falangist discourse" within the Franco regime, was in charge of the labour portfolio. The department coexisted during the dictatorship with the Spanish Trade Union Organization—commonly known as the Vertical Syndicate—, an organization that Girón de Velasco considered complementary to the Ministry of Labour.
Similar to what happened during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, vocational training received a new impetus with plans such as the National Plan for the Professional Development of Adults, commonly known by its main program, the Workers' Professional Development Program (, PPO). There was also a sister program for the Army, the Military Workers' Professional Development Program (, PPE). This "almost improvised" plan, according to the OECD, achieved "a series of unexpected results that allow us today to establish a coherent doctrine born from this rich experience". Between 1964 and 1974, this plan trained more than 1.2 million workers.