The general secretary of UGT, Pepe Álvarez, and that of CCOO, Unai Sordo, have insisted on the "success" of the general strike held this Wednesday, 11 November, and have underlined that "now the mobilization in the street takes over," anticipating a "massive" social demonstration in Spain.
From the CCOO headquarters in Madrid, in statements to the media, both union leaders have placed emphasis on the "cross-cutting" nature of the protests that have been called, highlighting that "they are going to go further," backed by and driven by the demands of the organizations, which they consider "very felt and shared by the majority of society".
In this context, Álvarez has warned that "housing cannot continue to take a very important share of wages" and has called for an "ambitious" and "tough" housing plan to be put in motion. He has also asked for reform of the Constitution and to "enshrine that public housing will not be able to be sold ever."
The leaders of UGT and CCOO have also responded to the political parties that have criticized the call for the general strike. Sordo has demanded that they "really explain what it is they want to do with housing."
"We ask parties to say clearly whether they are going to mobilize public resources so that in the coming years we have between one and a half million and two million protected-price homes," the CCOO leader has said.
For his part, the general secretary of UGT has extended this demand to all political formations, in order to know their position as a point of reference for "where they are going to go," that is, "whether they will be able to make a constitutional amendment that enshrines housing as a public right," taking advantage of a parliamentary setting in which the next Cortes Generales could have a broad majority.
With regard to the unemployment situation from work this Wednesday, Álvarez has defended that its scope has been "recognizable" and "visible" both through images and data "from every point of view" and through "the reactions that have taken place".
In turn, Sordo has highlighted "very relevant" monitoring in the sectors "most unionized," with "a part of the autonomous communities of Spain where unemployment has been broadly the majority."