Abstract

The article focuses the trend lines of the jurisprudence of the Spanish supreme Court for thirty years (1986-2016), pointing out the elements of convergence and divergence with the Italian experience during those same years. Generally speaking it is possible to affirm a constant in the Spanish jurisprudence of accommodating the legal structures to the exigencies of the policy of employment in each historical moment, with some peculiarities in order to define the nature legally binding of the collective bargaining. At the beginning of the crisis and the implementation of austerity policies, the government's attempt to limit the interpretive action of the judges has, on the contrary, led to an answer more strict by the supreme Court, especially in the area of collective dismissals and collective bargaining. The article criticizes the orientation of the labour reforms of 2010 and 2012 that tries to situate the jurisprudence in a subordinated position to the economic policy.