Spanish workers take to street to fight new labour law, demand justice
UNI Europa is supporting Spanish unions in their fight against so-called “labour market reforms” that have weakened collective bargaining rights and made jobs more precarious. Close to 2 million workers took to the streets on Sunday to protest the changes that the Spanish trade unions say are "unfair to workers, counter-productive for the economy and useless for creating jobs."
“Spanish workers are taking to the streets to demand nothing less than justice and dignity in the workplace,” said UNI Europa Regional Secretary Oliver Roethig. “This austerity plan puts punishing demands on workers to give up their rights in the name of economic recovery. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Spain and across Europe who are fighting back against these attacks.”
Spanish trade union federations CCOO and UGT have launched a mobilisation campaign to fight the changes, including yesterday’s mass demonstrations in 57 cities across the country. The changes are being imposed under the guise of fighting the crisis but UNI Europa rejects the notion that precarious work is the solution to the crisis.
“The troika is insisting on anti-worker laws that will eliminate any justice in the workplace for workers,” said UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings. “It is perverse logic to say that making it easier to dismiss workers creates more jobs. Around the world we are seeing governments destroying worker protections in the name of fighting the crisis but this will only lead to more misery not recovery and job growth.”
More than 1.8 million workers were on the streets on Sunday, CCOO said. Some 500,000 came out in Madrid, 450,000 in Catalonia, 220,000 in Valencia, 150,000 in Galicia and 130,000 in Andalucía. Hundreds of thousands also gathered in other regions across Spain.
The Spanish unions say that the new labour law, adopted by decree, pulls the teeth out of collective bargaining rights, makes redundancies cheaper and easier and makes work more precarious. It also says that any worker who has excused medical absences for over 20 percent of working time during a two-month period can be dismissed.
The unions are planning a range of actions to fight back against the new law.
On 29 February, the Spanish workers will be out in force as part of the Europe-wide day of action for employment and social justice organised by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). UNI Europa and its affiliates will also participate in actions across Europe.