Trade unions are understood to be losing a great part of their capacity of pressure and influence in post-fordist economies. This paper shows how the role played by the Spanish trade unions in the process of reform of the pension system has been very significant.

In this paper, the authors look at trends in social security reform activity in all of the Nordic countries with the exception of Iceland. They shall first briefly compare the status of the welfare state around 1990 with that of 1997; to be followed by an account of the economic and political...