general strike

Rafael Hernando believes that pro-independence parties are looking forward to ‘deaths’ in the streets

People went on strike and took to the streets against the October 1 repression

The general strike called at European Union level to protest the austerity measures and support a new strategy to deal with the economic crisis will also affect Catalonia, 11 days before the Catalan elections. Despite coinciding with the official election campaign, unions in Catalonia called for a general strike, arguing that the date had been decided at EU level. The Catalan Government and the main unions have reached an agreement on the minimum services to be provided. Public transportation will work at 33% of its capacity at rush hours, but not at all for the rest of the day. Emergency rooms will work as normal and hospitals will continue to offer indispensable treatments and perform scheduled surgeries. Schools will have the presence of between 17% and 33% of the staff guaranteed. Catalan Police will deploy 9,000 officers to avoid any violence.

The General Strike on March 29th ended without significant changes in the Spanish Government’s Labour Reform, but with a clear acknowledgement that there is growing social anger. The strike was unevenly supported in Catalonia. Unions talked about sector strike participation ranging between 97% and 57% and the Catalan Government about strike participations ranging between 24% and 10%. Minimum services worked as planned, without any significant incidents. Demonstrations took place in the main Catalan cities, with the largest in Barcelona. Isolated violent incidents were the only negative parts of what was a relatively calm day.

Isolated picket actions and violent anti-system protests contradicted the generally calm and respectful spirit of the general strike in Catalonia, which respect minimum services agreed on. Trade unions state that 80% of Catalan workers followed the strike. Small and medium-sized business associations quantified 1.2% of the strike’s success. The Catalan Government quantifies 11% of public employees who did not go to work today.

The workers’ representatives hope that the industrial action will force the Spanish Government to reconsider its labour market reform. The strike is planned for the 29th of September.

Catalan trade unions send out opening salvo in protest against government policy on run up to European general strike on September 29th

The Spanish Government has finally issued today the highly expected reform of the labour market. Companies will be able to fire employees after paying 33 days of compensation, from which the State will pay 8.

Government and unions clash over success of strike action. Official figures suggest 11% of participation while unions raise the figure up to 75%. The salary cuts within the public sector adopted by the Spanish Government have infuriated the unions.