Collective Labour Rights of ‘Classic’ Self-Employed Persons and Economically Dependent Self-Employed Workers under Spanish Law: Is There Any Lesson for Poland?

This paper aims to analyse collective labour rights of both ‘classic’ self-employed persons and economically dependent self-employed workers under the Spanish Statute of Self-Employed Workers (Ley 20/2007 del Estatuto del Trabajo Autónomo). The author applies comparative analysis and critical reasoning with a view to answering the questions: is the scope of protection wide enough, and can Poland really draw a lesson from it? The paper presents evidence that demonstrates that among all self-employed workers, only economically dependent self-employed workers are granted the right to bargain collectively (but they do not enjoy the right to strike). However, findings suggest that in practice, collective bargaining is stymied mainly because it takes place only at the enterprise level, and because the number of economically dependent self-employed workers is minimal. The paper concludes that collective labour rights under the Statute of Self-Employed Workers could be better protected.