Research Project Co-financed by the European Commission

los Trabajadores, ET) of 1980, reformed several times, the latter with references to the collective agreements in the year 1995. There are as well some Decrees of the government dedicated to partial aspects of the agreements, which will be cited at the convenient place. Article 37 of the Spanish Constitution states that Law will garantee the right to the collective bargaining between the workers ’ representatives and the employers, as well as the binding power of the agreements. The article 37 is located in the part referred to fundamental rights, but it is deprived of the strongness given by the article 53 to other ones, as for instance the right to association or the right to strike in order to be defended in front of the Constitutional Court. Notwithstanding, this Court has decided on a relatively high number of decisions referred to collective agreements, due to infringiments against the right to association. As a remain of Franco Dictatorship (1936-1976), the works ’ councils have as well the right to bargain inside the firms, although they are not permitted to coligate in order to compete with unions in broader levels, sectoral level. Instead, the unons ar