ABSTRACT

Regardless of any guarantees won by the workers, and regardless of any negotiation over benefits in which employers may have engaged, negotiations invariably focused on the social consequences of economic decisions taken without participation by workers or their representatives. Still, the government's position on the wages of its own employees had to take account of its other main concern, that of controlling inflation, and during the growth phase this led at times to divergences with other employers-who were more concerned with expanding production than with controlling prices. Market mechanisms determined the course of the economy in a climate of international competition, while social legislation protective of workers' rights was increasingly challenged by employers, especially after the victory of the right in the 1978 elections. The state showed that it could set an example for other employers in the way it dealt with the question of reducing the length of the workweek.