The unions link the 24-hour strike to their proposal for salary increases of 4% to 7% and clauses to facilitate access to housing. The date is still pending and the agreement must be ratified by their highest governing bodies. CCOO and UGT want to transfer the mobilization for housing to workplaces and salary negotiation tables. The agreement to promote a general strike of 24 hours this autumn incorporates a demand to business organizations: that salaries allow access to decent housing.
The unions place the renewal of the Agreement for Employment and Collective Bargaining (AENC) and the unblocking of collective agreements among the ways to respond to that demand. This is stated in the statement published by UGT on October 5.
Salary increases of 4% to 7%
The union proposal for the VI AENC includes salary increases of 4% to 7%, salary review clauses, and measures to facilitate access to housing. These are pending negotiation claims, with no approved increase that is automatically applied to payrolls.
The link between housing and salaries also appears in UGT's previous positions. The union has been arguing that negotiated wage improvements must facilitate access to essential goods, especially for those with the lowest incomes.
A demand to companies and administrations
The agreement calls on both business organizations and administrations with housing competencies. The unions demand a permanently protected public housing stock, limits on rents, and effective application of the Housing Law.
The labor dimension of the strike is one of the points of contention with the employers. The president of CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, has questioned its legality by considering that the housing crisis does not constitute a labor conflict. His position contrasts with the union approach, which incorporates wages and collective bargaining into the demands.
DEMÓCRATA analyzes the requirements that a call must meet and the limits of the right to strike in this article about when a strike is illegal in Spain.
The date of the strike is still pending
The UGT statement specifies that the agreement to call the strike must be ratified by the highest governing bodies of both unions. The definitive date will be analyzed with social organizations and the Tenants' Union.