Not all workers will be able to support the general strike called for this Wednesday, 11 November. Although the Constitution recognizes the right to strike, Spanish legislation prohibits exercising it for military personnel and police officers and allows minimum services to be imposed in essential activities, such as healthcare, emergencies, or public transport.
Salaried lawyers may also participate in the call, although the strike does not exempt them from their obligations before the courts. Self-employed workers, for their part, may close their businesses to protest, but they must meet any professional commitments they have pending.
Military personnel and police officers are prohibited from going on strike
Members of the Armed Forces and of the Forces and Security Corps may not support a general strike. The prohibition includes military personnel, Civil Guards, national police officers, and agents of the regional and local police, regardless of the reason for the protest.
The article 6.8 of the Organic Law on Forces and Security Corps prevents them from exercising the right to strike and from taking part in coordinated actions that alter the normal functioning of services. Military personnel are expressly prohibited from exercising this right in the regulations that govern their rights and duties.
Doctors, firefighters, and civil servants can strike with minimum services
Healthcare employees, emergency services, and public transport workers may take part in a strike, although the competent authorities may set minimum services to guarantee essential services.
Workers designated to cover those services are obliged to comply with them, without that requirement extending to the rest of the workforce. A doctor or a public transport driver who does not have minimum services assigned may support the stoppage. Firefighters also retain that right, with the necessary limitations to handle indispensable interventions.
The article 15 of the Basic Statute of the Public Employee likewise recognizes the right to strike of civil servants, conditioned on maintaining essential services and with the exceptions provided for certain corps.
The strike of judges and prosecutors remains a matter of controversy
Associations of judges and prosecutors have called strikes on different occasions, despite the fact that there is no specific regulation on the exercise of this right. Unlike members of the armed forces and police, judges and prosecutors do not have an express prohibition on striking.
The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has defended that strikes by judges and magistrates lack normative coverage. The calling associations disagree and consider that the lack of legislative development is not enough to deprive them of a fundamental right.
Salaried lawyers can take part in the general strike
Lawyers hired by a firm may take part in a general strike that applies to them. The regulations that govern their special employment relationship recognize the collective rights of these professionals, including the right to strike.
Those who work on their own account may also interrupt their activity to support a protest, although they are not covered by the same employment guarantees as salaried workers.
The notice, however, does not alter lawyers’ obligations to the judicial authorities, especially when they have hearings or actions previously scheduled.
A lawyer cannot consider a trial suspended for participating in the strike
Trials scheduled during a strike day are not automatically suspended, even if the lawyer responsible for the defense has the right to take part in it. Hearings remain scheduled unless the judicial body orders their postponement.
The Civil Procedure Act regulates the grounds that allow a hearing to be suspended, but it does not include participation in a strike as a reason that would oblige it to be done. Criminal, labor, and administrative-contentious procedures are governed by their respective procedural rules.
The lawyer who wants to join the stoppage and has a trial scheduled must request its suspension and obtain a favorable ruling. Merely submitting the written brief does not authorize considering the proceeding postponed.
If the scheduling remains in force, failure to appear may harm the client’s interests and lead to professional liabilities, depending on the circumstances of the proceeding.
The Bar Association of Barcelona has recommended consulting in advance with the court office to check the possible impact of strikes on scheduled hearings.
Self-employed workers can close their businesses, but they must meet their commitments
Self-employed workers can close their establishments or interrupt their activity to take part in a protest. The Self-Employed Workers’ Statute recognizes the exercise of collective actions in defense of their professional interests, although these stoppages do not have the same effects as a labor strike.
The participation of an employee in a lawful strike temporarily suspends their employment contract. Self-employed workers do not have an employment relationship with an employer and, therefore, the closing of their business does not produce that suspension.
Contracts with clients, pending deliveries and other professional obligations remain in force, unless the parties agree to modify them or there is a legal reason that allows their breach.
A shopkeeper may decide not to open during the workday and an independent professional may suspend their services, but the protest does not automatically free them from the commitments they have undertaken.
The closing of a business does not require its employees to take part in the strike
Self-employed workers with contracted employees cannot impose on them their decision to take part in the stoppage. Employees retain the right to strike even if the owner wants to open the establishment and, if the owner decides to close, cannot consider as strikers the employees who were willing to work.
The employer also cannot automatically deduct their salary for keeping the business closed. Lockout is subject to specific causes and requirements, so the voluntary decision to support a protest does not allow its labor consequences to be applied without more.