Hundreds of textile retail workers in Galicia observed a new day of strike this Tuesday and took to the streets to reject the agreement reached at the state level between Comisiones Obreras, Fetico, and the Spanish Textile Retail Association (ARTE), which foresees the signing of a national agreement for the sector: "We have to stop this madness."
To the cry of "Agreement here and not in Madrid," "We work here, we negotiate here," "We are not slaves, we are workers," "Amancio (Ortega), listen, we are fighting," or "The only thing left is to take away what we've earned," numerous employees from different Galician chains and establishments demonstrated in the morning in Vigo and A Coruña to demand their own agreement in the community to halt the "deterioration" of their working conditions.
In Vigo, the mobilization was concentrated in the Gran Vía de Vigo shopping center, where participants staged a funeral procession with a coffin to symbolize the death of the sector. Subsequently, the march continued along Gran Vía de Vigo street until reaching the city center.
Transi Fernández, a representative of the CIG, detailed the situation and announced that the union will call for new strike days and demonstrations with the aim of reaching an agreement with the Galician employers' association to avoid the application of the state one, as in Galicia the current conditions are "considerably superior" to those signed in Madrid.
Fernández insisted that, at the moment, Galician workers receive higher salaries than those set in the new state framework. Thus, the salary increases foreseen in the national agreement will be offset until they match the Galician tables, which in practice will mean a reduction in their purchasing power.
She also recalled that in the provinces of Pontevedra and Lugo there are agreements signed until 2030, so the new state text will not come into effect there until that year. In contrast, in A Coruña and Ourense it will begin to be applied in the coming weeks, once the document is signed and officially published.
"We have to stop this madness," she insisted, calling for the opening of negotiations for a Galician agreement that will shield the community against the state framework.
Rosa Acuña, from UGT, expressed herself in similar terms, showing her rejection of the new state agreement after "years of fighting to improve the conditions" of Galician workers. "We are not willing to allow this to worsen," she concluded.