The Spanish Labour Foundation: The case of Construction Labour Foundation of Asturias

Abstract

Work foundations are not well known institutions having a great potential to promote an improved and stronger social dialogue, worker participation and employee social responsibility. Perhaps, the Austrian work foundations are the most well known, serving as an example of success that may become the basis of a new model that is founded on flexicurity. However, there are other experiences in Europe from which knowledge may also be derived for both European and national good practices perspectives.

The purpose of this research is to analyse the main characteristics of Spanish labour foundations. The interest in these foundations is based on two main points. On the one hand, they give us a concrete and specific regulation on labour foundations which comes directly from the law. In this sense, they are based on a completely different legal system as compared to the Austrian experience. On the other hand, they represent the first regulation in Europe on this specific type of foundation. This not only means a longer tradition, but more importantly, that they are based on a completely different socio-economic perspective.

This paper has been divided as follows: first, there is a brief description of the concept of labour foundation; second, the regulatory framework is described, which consists of both the legal regulation and its practical manifestation. As for the latter, one of the most thorough and developed experiences has been chosen: the case of Construction Labour Foundation of Asturias. Finally, some conclusions about the practical development of labour foundations in Spain are offered.