CCOO and UGT have placed participation in this Wednesday's general strike in Aragón at more than 70 percent, based on data collected from the night and morning shifts in the main productive sectors and in the public administrations. The union leaderships have described the day as an "success" and have emphasized that this mobilization will not be the end of their demands, but the start of a new phase of pressure to unblock collective bargaining and achieve wage advances and improvements in working conditions.
Around 200 people have taken part in an information picket promoted by both central bodies in front of the CEOE Aragón headquarters, in Zaragoza. The gathering took place without incidents, with whistles, drums and bass drums, as well as lit flares during the event.
Before the media, the general secretary of UGT Aragón, José Juan Arceiz, and the general secretary of CCOO Aragón, Manuel Pina, appeared. Both offered an initial assessment of participation, detailed the reasons for the call, and advanced the timetable of actions planned for the day.
Arceiz has stated that "class unions have won the general strike of November 11" and has underscored that the response has exceeded initial expectations, which pointed to a possible blowout of the strike.
The UGT leader has put the average follow-through in the different areas at more than 70 percent and has cited companies such as Exide, Tudor, CAF, Saica and Valeo, where, according to his figures, 100 percent of the workforce has been absent from their posts.
In relation to FCC, he indicated that, once the mandatory minimum services have been deducted, the rest of the workforce also would not have gone to work. He made a similar assessment of Avanza buses, where he criticized that the minimum services exceeded 60 percent, as well as the regional Administration and the healthcare system. In the latter, he calculated that around 60 percent of employees not included in minimum services have stopped working.
For his part, Pina has stressed that the strike is being a "work success" both in the night shifts and in the morning ones, with participation close to 70 percent in the productive sectors and in the public administrations.
The top official of CCOO has highlighted three key elements of the day: the level of follow-up, the calm with which the information pickets have been carried out, and the social dimension of the demands raised.
"For us it is essential that today's photo be this photo and not a photo of an incident in a picket," he has said. Pina recalled that the union teams began their work at 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday and went around industrial estates and workplaces during the night to inform the workforce. In his view, the absence of incidents in these actions is another defining feature of how the strike has developed.
They demand that the employers' association reactivate collective bargaining
The choice of CEOE Aragón's headquarters as the central point of the picket is, according to the calling organizations, due to the intention to directly convey to the employers' association an essential part of the strike's demands.
Arceiz has called on business organizations to get involved in unblocking the state agreement on collective bargaining, which has been stalled since December 31 of last year.
The general secretary of UGT Aragón has urged the Aragonese employers' association to use its influence to convey to its national counterparts the urgency of resuming dialogue. He has argued that "if an agreement is reached, it would be possible to transfer wage and labor demands to small sectors and companies in which the unions have less capacity to organize."
In similar terms, Pina has warned that, if the employers' association does not return to the negotiating table for jobs and collective bargaining, each blocked agreement will become a focus of conflict. "We are going to add conflicts and we are going to make today the beginning of a conflict in the area of collective bargaining and not the end of anything," he said.
The CCOO leader has insisted that there is room to improve working conditions, since, he has argued, the economy is growing and companies are registering record profits. For that reason, he has called for more ambitious wage increases and progress in labor rights.
Defense of the strike and of its timing
In the face of criticism from some political representatives, Pina has asserted the constitutional right of the working class to call and back work stoppages and mobilizations.
"We would like them to let us exercise constitutional rights, as is to hold a general strike," he has stated. Along these lines, he has demanded that union action be respected in the same way that unions respect the calls promoted by parties.
Regarding the opening of large retail spaces during the morning, Arceiz has differentiated between the dynamics of industry and production processes and those of commerce. He has explained that, in a first phase, efforts have been concentrated in the industrial estates and that, after the protest before the employers' association, the pickets would go through the streets of Zaragoza to extend the strike to the commercial sector.
The head of UGT has downplayed the fact that some shops remain open and has argued that the union priority has been to ensure participation at workplaces, above the search for spectacular images. "We have dealt more with looking for effectiveness than with looking for flashy photos—photos that are historic, looking for effectiveness," he has said.
Both leaders have also defended the appropriateness of calling the strike in the current context, against those who question the date because it is close to an electoral period. Pina has reminded that general strikes have always generated a backlash and has maintained that the mobilization comes at a time when workers have decided to defend their rights.
Arceiz has warned that a postponement could have delayed the demands for months. "Either we do it now, or we will probably not take advantage of that moment of social outrage to give a channel to the proposal and the demand," he said. In his address, he referred to the housing problem and to the climate of social discontent that, in his view, justified not waiting for the elections to pass and for a new Government to be formed.
Afternoon demonstration in Zaragoza
The day will continue in the afternoon shift with new union initiatives and with the demonstration called for 18.00 hours, which will leave from Puerta del Carmen. Pina has said in advance that the march will have a strong social character and will place the focus especially on the issue of housing.
Unions are counting on a large turnout for this meeting, which they consider the second major event of the day after the information pickets of the morning. Arceiz has concluded by showing his confidence that the demonstration will bring together a large number of people and has emphasized that the progress of the strike is making it possible to take the labor demands that motivate the work stoppage to the streets.