The Independent Trade Union Confederation (Fetico) has communicated this Tuesday that it will not participate in the general strike for housing called for next November 11 by the Tenants' Union and supported by CCOO, UGT, and other organizations, alleging that it has not been informed or taken into account in the preparation of this protest.
Through a public note, the union – which groups together nearly 100,000 members – has rejected the intention to exclusively assume the representation of the entire working class without incorporating the rest of the union forces into the decision-making process.
Although the confederation assures that it takes the concern for access to housing and the related social demands "very seriously," it defends that the regulation of the real estate sector corresponds to the political sphere and to the institutions.
Fetico maintains that an independent union must focus on strictly labor-related issues and direct its efforts on how to unblock the nearly 4,500 collective agreements pending renewal, in order to improve wages and working conditions for the workforce.
Renewal of agreements and wage improvement
In this regard, the organization emphasizes that updating collective bargaining constitutes one of its essential competencies. It indicates that each month of blockage in an agreement prevents workers from receiving the expected wage increases, leaving them "more exposed to the increase in rent or mortgage."
The union also considers that the escalation of conflict does not expedite the signing of agreements, but rather delays it, which is why it states that it cannot ask employees to support a strike for what it qualifies as "poorly done work" by other union organizations.
At the same time, Fetico expresses its support for the increase in wages and the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI), which it defines as an "emergency tool" in recent years, but warns that continuously resorting to the SMI highlights that collective bargaining is not functioning properly.
Opening a debate on the union model
The independent confederation also warns of the low participation in union elections and the loss of trust from a "silent majority" of workers towards representative organizations.
In their view, credibility is regained with tangible results, such as agreements signed on time, effective salary increases, and a more plural and inclusive social dialogue.
For all these reasons, Fetico proposes to open a debate to review the current union model in Spain, with the aim of promoting a representation "more plural, that does not depend on a few and that is capable of evolving" at the same pace as the labor market.