The general strike from this Wednesday has reopened the debate on the legal limits of pickets and the rights of workers and employers who decide to keep their activity. Spanish law recognizes the fundamental right to strike in Article 28.2 of the Constitution, but it also protects the freedom of those who choose not to support it. Pickets can inform, distribute propaganda, and solicit support, but they are not authorized to impose participation by means of threats, intimidation, or violence, nor to cause damage to commercial establishments. (((Siga here the live broadcast)))
The article 6.6 of Royal Decree-Law 17/1977, of 4 March, on labor relations establishes that workers on strike may carry out publicity for it in a peaceful manner and raise funds without any coercion. For its part, Article 6.4 provides that the freedom to work of those who do not want to join the stoppage must be respected.
This means that no picket can legally force an employee to leave their post, prevent access to work through coercion, or force an employer to close their business. Informational and persuasive activity is protected, as long as it is carried out by peaceful means.
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Entering shops, breaking doors or blocking access
The regulations also do not grant pickets a general right to enter establishments against the will of those responsible, to occupy their premises, to break doors, shop windows, or furniture, nor to physically prevent the entry and exit of clients and workers.
The judgment 69/2016 of the Constitutional Court establishes that coercion and vandal acts fall outside the protection of the right to strike. The court examined actions aimed at achieving the closure of an establishment through intimidation and recalled that the freedom of enterprise and the freedom to work are also constitutionally protected.
Entering a premises open to the public does not, on its own, constitute an infringement: what matters is the conduct carried out and whether illicit means are used.
What criminal consequences can these actions have?
Conducts that exceed legal limits may give rise to criminal, civil, or administrative liability, depending on the facts. The article 172 of the Criminal Code punishes coercion with prison sentences of six months to three years or a fine of 12 to 24 months, depending on its severity and the means used.
The damage caused can constitute damage offenses pursuant to Article 263, while physical assaults can be prosecuted as offenses of injury. Liability must be determined individually and requires proving each person’s participation in the events. The Constitutional Court has reiterated that the exercise of the right to strike does not justify violent actions against workers, employers, or third parties.
What affected workers and shopkeepers can do
Workers who want to go to their workplace and find the entrances blocked can immediately report it to their company and request police intervention when there are threats, damages, or material impediments. Owners of establishments can file a complaint about the events and provide recordings, photographs, witness statements, or documentation of the damage. Constitutional jurisprudence distinguishes between legitimate pressure to promote a strike and intimidation that nullifies the freedom of decision of other people. In its judgment 137/1997, the Constitutional Court confirmed that preventing access to the workplace through intimidation exceeds the limits of the right to strike, even when the obstacles are intermittent.