The right to be protected from strike action brought against another employer

Abstract

The company’s relations with its clients, as is the case with other companies with which it has commercial and business ties, can undoubtedly have an impact on the interests and rights of workers, as evidenced by the labour legislation itself through the regulation contained in art. 42 of the Spanish Employment Code regarding contracts and subcontracts. But going further, from the point of view of the protection of fundamental rights and, in particular, the right to strike, the constitutional doctrine established at the time a sort of indirect extension of the effectiveness of that right in the face of the conduct of possible third parties outside, in principle, the employment relationship. This study is devoted to a review of this doctrine and an analysis of the state of the matter in the light of subsequent case law, which seems to have placed more emphasis on the protection of the right to strike within complex corporate structures, and it can be concluded that there is a scenario of high legal uncertainty, even more so after the recent STS of 14 November 2024, which has projected the duty of corporate abstention beyond the group of companies.