General strike in Euskadi demands 35 hour week
The Basque Country (Euskadi) came to a standstill in a general strike on Friday May 21.
The strike, which was supported by the four main trade union federations (CC.OO, UGT, ELA, LAB),demanded the introduction of a 35 hour week.
The struggle for the 35 hour week has in recent years been an important objection of European trade unions, with the French and Italian governmetns being forced to agree to its introduction.
The reason for its importance is clear: today in the EU we have 20 million unemployed, with 5 million in Germany, 3 million in France and 3 million in Spain.
The left must demand the immediate introduction of the 35 hour week with no exceptions and with no loss of pay.
The Spanish employers say they "can’t afford" such a measure. This in a situation where they’ve been making record profits ;and where, since 1993, the stock market has gone up by 125 per cent!
As Friday morning dawned, it was clear that not many people were heeding the employers’ call to "work as normal". Although the media did their best to find some strike breaking heroes, they had little success.
By 6 am thousands of pickets were in place, not only outside the factories and offices, but in all the main roads across the city. In San Sebastian, Vitoria, Bilbao and a dozen smaller cities, workers were seen directing traffic and communicating with each other by mobile phone.
The response of the Basque police, the Ertzaintza, varied a lot from area to area. In some places, they more or less stood by, knowing it was after all only one day. In other areas, they were tooled up and looking for a fight, and at least 20 pickets needed hospital treatment.
By 10 am, pickets were doing the rounds in the city centres, reminding any shops and bars that had opened that they should be closed.
At 12 o’clock, the demonstrations started, with more than 50,000 people taking part in demonstrations throughout the day.
One of the most positive things about this strike was that it was supported by all the trade union federations.
The greatest source of weakness in the Basque trade union movement is the chronic division between the nationalists, ELA and LAB, and those that exist in the whole of Spain, CC.OO and UGT.
Disgrace
In this context, it is disgraceful that the trade union leaders refused to hold joint demonstrations, preferring to maintain this division.
In Bilbao, for example, both demonstrations assembled at the same time and at the same place - CC.OO and UGT on one side of the square and ELA and LAB on the other. Both demonstrations then set off to march, by different routes, around the city.
Despite this, May 21 can only be seen as a big success.
It is only the first step in what will probably be a long fight against government and employers, in the Basque Country and across Spain. The trade unions should set a date for a general strike in Spain as a whole.