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Help keep trade unionists out of Spanish prisons!
Imagine a modern European country in which a trade unionist can go to jail for exercising their democratic right to strike – imagine Spain.
Some three hundred Spanish unionists face criminal and administrative procedures as a result of an unprecedented attack on workers’ rights that has hit the country hard in recent years. The government is even using an article of the Criminal Code to sentence workers hailing from the Franco dictatorship that was used to surpress strikes at the time.
Among those facing prison are Dolores Villalba and Gonzalo Fuentes, both leaders of UNI Global Union affiliate CCOO’s Federation of Service Employees, as well as eight workers employed by Airbus in Madrid for their participation in pickets during the General Strike of 2010. Between them they face a total of 64 years behind bars.
Villalba, who is the General Secretary of the Services Federation of Malaga, faces three years and six months for taking part in industrial action, told the UNI World Executive Board in November, “We need your support. We are being criminalised.”
“I’m not frightened about prison – if I have to go I will go. We will continue to fight. Striking is not a crime it is a right.”
Labour reform in Spain is happening under the pretext of fighting the country’s economic crisis but it is clear that the true aims are to curtail the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining and to privatise public services.
The UNI Global Union World Executive Board endorsed a statement rejecting the Spanish government’s policy and repressive laws restricting labour rights and citizen’s basic freedoms and calling for international solidarity. UNI’s Spanish affiliates the CCOO and UGT received the UNI Global Union Freedom from Fear award in recognition of their courage in the face of repression and support of their campaign for justice and an amnesty.
It’s time to tell the Spanish government enough is enough. Send a message today supporting the right to strike and express your full solidarity with those facing criminal procedures.