Spanish congress elects new leader

The CCOO, one of Spain’s two largest union confederations, has a new general secretary in Iganacio Fernández Toxo. His election followed a contested vote at the confederation’s four-yearly Congress towards the end of last year.

Toxo — previously in charge of the CCOO’s bargaining and campaigns department, and before that head of the metalworking union — defeated his predecessor José Mariá Fidalgo by a narrow margin of 512 votes to 484.

Fildalgo. was first elected as general secretary in 2000. He was seeking his third, and under CCOO rules, final four-year term.

Voting for members of the executive was similarly divided with 509 votes for Toxo supporters and 488 for those backing Fidalgo. As a result the new executive will be split 22 to 21 between the two groups.

During his election Toxo, who was imprisoned by the dictator General Franco in the 1970s, argued for an inclusive leadership which took greater account of the confederation’s regional structures and industrial federations. In his speech to the congress after his election, he said that while it was necessary to negotiate, “no one should use the crisis to reduce employment rights”. And he said that if they did they would “clash with the CCOO”.

Figures presented to the congress show a growth in membership. These reveal that in 2007 the CCOO had 1,141,000 members, 19% more than four years earlier.