The home-based work in the Second Republic: its regulation in Spain and Catalonia

Abstract

Home-based work, known as the "sweating system" when it involved abusive working conditions for female workers, was one of the forms of labor organization that grew alongside the factories established during the Industrial Revolution, ultimately becoming an extension of the workplace.

In 1918, the Institute of Social Reforms published the first Spanish draft law on this matter, but it was not approved by the Cortes (Parliament) due to the frequent dissolutions of the legislative chamber. It was during the Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, in 1926, that the Home-Based Work Law was finally passed, with its regulations published in 1927.

During the Second Republic, the 1931 Labor Contract Law equated home-based workers with the rest of the working class, whether physical or intellectual, placing these workers—the vast majority of whom were women—on equal footing with workers in other sectors, especially factories. The constitutional framework allowed the historical territories to approve their own statutes of autonomy, thereby acquiring legislative powers. Catalonia approved its statute in 1932, gaining jurisdiction over labor matters.

In this paper, we will analyze the regulation of home-based work in Spain and Catalonia, examining both general labor relations regulations and the Bases de Trabajo (Working Conditions Regulations), the rules on working conditions approved by the Joint Sectoral Juries. Our analysis will be based on the regulations published in the Gaceta de Madrid (Madrid Gazette) and the Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Official Gazette of the Government of Catalonia). Finally, we will compare the different regulations on this subject.