Regionalisation One of the controversial questions during the congress was the role of the trade unions in a strongly regionalised political context such as that of Spain. For many years, CC.OO in Catalonia , the Basque Country and Galicia have acted on the basis of a need for a framework of industrial relations with a certain regional specificity, in order to respond to narrow nationalist tendencies. Catalan and Basque representatives have expressed strong reactions to this opinion. A desire for strict centralism seems to be no more than nostalgia on the part of some union leaders. However, there are still enormous inequalities between men and women.
Women are twice as likely to be unemployed as men and almost twice as likely to have unstable jobs.
For identical jobs they are still paid considerably less, although in this area there has been some improvement. They also occupy fewer posts of responsibility and management, although they have the same educational levels. CC.OO now wishes to pay greater attention to promoting equal opportunities. The new general secretary has promised to work for the complete integration of the minority faction, but at present the lack of integration is the cause of serious tension within the organisation. At the seventh CC.OO congress, the majority expressed a desire to continue with this united action, but some would like to go further, laying the foundations for real unity between the two confederations.