A “historic” mass mobilization has traveled through the rain the center of València to demand housing and decent wages, as a “wake-up call” to all governments, present and future: “We have reminded all governments, local, regional, state, past, present and future, that we will not allow any right that we have achieved to be stolen from us.”
So they have expressed it to the media the general secretary of CCOO PV, Ana García Alcolea, and the general secretary of UGT PV, Tino Calero, accompanied by representatives of unions such as COS, CGT and CNT, as well as housing groups such as the PAH, the Sindicat de Llogateres, the Sindicat de l'Habitatge and Entrebarris, moments before the march started from the commercial and nerve center of Cap i Casal to Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
At the front line, the demonstration advanced behind a large banner with the slogan “Habitatge. Salaris. Serveis Públics. Pensions. 11N Vaga General”. As the departure was being prepared, columns from different neighborhoods of the city were added, accompanied by a sound team from which protest songs could be heard. At 18.00 hours, when the procession began to move, the crowd filling Carrer de Colón made their keys sound as the main banner passed.
Along the route chants were shouted such as “Els carrers seràn sempre nostres” (“The streets will always be ours”); “Vaga, vaga, vaga general” (“Strike, strike, general strike”); “Que visca la lluita de la classe obrera” (“Long live the struggle of the working class”); “Violencia es no llegar a fin de mes”; “Treball precari, per a l'empresari” (“Precarious work, for the employer”); “El poble unit mai més serà oprimit” (“The oppressed people will never again be oppressed”); or “Pels nostres drets i la nostra dignitat, vaga, vaga, vaga, vaga general” (“For our rights and our dignity, strike, strike, strike, strike general”), among many others.
Among the sea of attendees, signs with slogans such as “Luchad por lo que es vuestro”; “We want to live, not just survive”; “Fear is going to change sides and the tableware holders”; “Looking for article 47 in the Constitution”; “Housing has to be a real right, not a dream”; or “Shame”.
They have also highlighted symbolic elements such as large cardboard keys or a fishing rod with some keys hanging. Despite the rain, many people have continued the march protected with raincoats and umbrellas. Similar mobilizations have been developed in Alicante and Castelló de la Plana. According to the Delegación del Gobierno, 40,000 people took part in València.
"This won’t be the last" day of struggle
In her assessment to the press, the general secretary of CCOO PV, Ana García Alcolea, has shown herself to be "satisfied" with the general work stoppage day and has stressed that "not only did all the information pickets go quite well throughout the day, but even now the demonstration is being brutal." She has congratulated the "working class" and "the whole of the citizenry" for this day of "struggle," "which obviously won’t be the last." "Until the problems of the working class are solved," she warned.
She recalled that "we have a whole series of demands that, beyond those who want to muddy the issue, are very clear: we want decent wages and that housing be a right and not a business, so that people can develop their life projects. Therefore, we will continue to demand public services, public and decent pensions, and we will be in the streets for whatever is necessary so that each government, according to its powers, does what it has to do to make people’s lives improve."
García Alcolea also criticized employers’ associations for positioning themselves "on the sidelines" and "refusing" to sign collective agreements "when multimillion-dollar profits are being generated." Wealth, she stressed, "that we are generating the working class and that has to be distributed."
The general secretary of UGT PV, Tino Calero, has defined as a "nuclear problem" the "difficulties in being able to access housing." He has denounced that wages "no longer cover it to make ends meet," he pointed out that "a figure of the working poor has been consolidated" and he has warned of the "progressive deterioration" of public services.
Therefore, it has demanded of all administrations and political forces that they put on the table “serious” and “realistic” proposals to guarantee access to housing and to “take on” employers so that “we can negotiate collective agreements that improve the wages of workers.” It has emphasized that for the working class “the defense of the public system and pensions” is “fundamental.” “We are in an election campaign. This strike call is not aimed at anyone; what this strike call is asking for is that the right to decent housing be an effective right,” it has stressed.
Decent wages, decent pensions, and strong public services
Beatriu Cardona, from Intersindical, has described the day as “historic” and has pointed out that from citizen movements this 11N “we have reminded all governments, local, regional, state, past, present and future, that we will not allow any right that we have achieved to be stolen from us.” It has also said that they are going to “continue on until our voices are heard and until we can all have a decent wage, decent pensions, and a strong public service.”
From CGT, Juan Ramón Ferrandis has declared himself “very happy” about this “turning point.” “It is a struggle that is very long-term,” he has said, highlighting that it is “a wake-up call both to the current government and to future ones.”
On behalf of CNT, Mar Bueno has reiterated the “historic” nature of the strike and has underlined that “the pickets that have been organized in a unified way throughout the day in the city of València show that this collaboration between combative housing unions and combative workers’ unions is the formula to solve a serious problem of grave injustice.” She has denounced that “the shopping basket is getting more and more expensive, rents are going up more and more, and meanwhile the owners of the homes and of the companies are getting richer at our expense,” so she has pointed out that it is “time to put an end to this injustice.”
Popular force exceeds the forecasts
Imma Milán, from the Coordinadora Obrera Sindical, has assured that it is “an absolute pride” for the neighborhoods and for the strike committees what was experienced in València. “Organized popular force has exceeded the expectations of the institutions,” she has said.
The spokesperson for the Sindicat de Llogateres de Valencia, Andrea Leixos, has stressed that it has been possible to "stop" production, transport, and consumption. "We have to stand by the people until rental prices come down and all evictions are halted," she has insisted.
From the PAH, its spokesperson, José Luis González, has described the march as a "fierce act of protest" that "will say no because they can't keep playing with our lives."
Lastly, Pablo Fuster, from Entrebarris, has insisted that this is not a "partisan" strike, but rather "a continuation of a process of class and grassroots struggle that we want to carry out until housing stops being a business." And he added: "The Government that has been in place these eight years hasn't solved the strike problem."