Our Spanish section, CNT, has recently called a number of strikes related to various labour disputes. Not only has it joined calls for a 24-hour general strike in the whole country in solidarity with the Palestinian people (which took place yesterday), but it keeps organising in the workplace. As such, its members have gone on strike in Seville and Granollers (near Barcelona). Opposite corners of the Iberian geography, very different economic sectors, one same struggle: that of the working class.
Aixa Can Mansana is a Catalonia based company that provides archaeologists for the initial digs required by law in Spain in many building or earthworks. Recently, the company fired a substantial amount of its long-term workers and substituted them with short term employees, effectively replacing a workforce with long duration contracts with on and off hirings. At the same time, it has refused for the past 13 years to review the salaries to account for inflation, it does not provide the required h&s equipment, and it has refused to discuss other details of the contracts.
After a long time of meaningless negotiations, the workers had enough and they went on strike, starting on August 13th. That means they have now stopped working for more than two months. A full interview can be found here (in Spanish): “Con la Caja de Resistencia Confederal podemos centrarnos en la huelga, en los piquetes, sin miedo” – Confederación Nacional del Trabajo and a statement and an update (in Catalan) can be found here: La vaga d’arqueòlegs de Can Mansana s’apropa als 60 dies mentre l’empresa vulnera el dret de vaga | CNT
On the other side of the country, GAZC is a metalwork company based in Seville that makes pieces for aircraft manufacturers internationally. For a long time, it has ignored many provisions in the bargaining agreement, and it has imposed a climate of fear and union repression, that led to a number of dismissals during this last summer. The workers got fed up with this state of things and went on an indefinite strike, starting on October 6th. More info can be found here (in Spanish): CNT inicia una huelga indefinida en GAZC Sevilla. High among their demands is the reinstatement of their fired comrades.
According to the Spanish legislation no wages are paid during strikes and that means that the workers have not (or will) not receive any payment for months on end. However, the latest CNT congress approved the creation of a general solidarity and strike fund, and the workers will receive money from it. This is the main reason why the strikes can go on for so long or proceed indefinitely (others are high spirits and working-class determination). This also means that CNT can tackle tougher struggles and be more ambitious in its demands, as it is prepared beforehand. We at ICL are more than happy to see our Spanish section grow in numbers and scope every day! Keep up the struggle!
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