The strike stays at the doors of the Cortes: decades of plenary sessions in days of general strike

Next Thursday, the first general strike in Spain since 2012 has been called. The desahucio de Maricarmen, and its subsequent death, was what finally overflowed the glass in the housing crisis, which remains as the main concern among Spaniards.

After a month of camping in Sol, with the Cortes dissolved in the face of the Executive’s inability to push through the royal decree-laws to alleviate the situation, and with the backing of CCOO and UGT, the Sindicato de Inquilinas called for a general stoppage that will crystallize this 11N.

With regard to this appointment, DEMÓCRATA reviews how the strike of December 14, 1988 was experienced in the Congress and in the Senate, which to this day is maintained as the strike that has achieved the highest level of follow-through.

"Ironies of history"

Eight million workers on strike, according to union estimates, factories shut down, transport paralyzed, and Televisión Española on black. On the 14D, Spain practically woke up stopped. CCOO and UGT had called for the mobilization against the Youth Employment Plan of Felipe González, but the discontent went much further. The protest opened a gap between the Socialist Government and the unions, including that of Nicolás Redondo, who had resigned a year earlier because of his disagreements with the policies of the 'felipismo'. The follow-through of the strike ultimately ended up forcing the Executive to withdraw its proposal.

While it seemed that time had stopped, halfway through the morning, in the Carrera de San Jerónimo, life continued. The President of the Congress, Félix Pons, lifted the session as on any other day. As every Wednesday, the Government control session took place, and then came the turn of the interpellations. From Coalición Popular on aid for livestock and industrial producers in the face of the African swine fever, and from Minoría Catalana to adapt the IRPF to the ruling of the Constitutional Court on the taxation of families.

But first, the Minister of Justice, Enrique Múgica, appeared, making his debut from the tribune of the Lower House. His debut, coinciding with such a symbolic date, did not go unnoticed by the opposition, which took advantage of the shot.

The deputy of Minoría Catalana Josep Maria Trias de Bes i Serra reminded him of the "ironies of history": after having fought "with such great zeal" for a general strike thirty years earlier, now he was to appear as "the only member of the Government, precisely today, in this Chamber".

The Senate also did not interrupt its activities during the 14D. The Upper House continued processing the Law on Demarcation and the Judicial Plant, debated extraordinary credits for bonuses for maritime transport for residents in the Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla and the Balearic Islands. It also addressed the financing of the Basque Country through the quota system and the regulation of the donation and use of human embryos and fetuses.

Everyday scene

The reality is that parliamentary activity has been maintained in the majority during general strikes. In the first of the democratic period, when trade unions were protesting against the Government of Felipe González's pension reform, on June 20, 1985, the Congress held a session in which processing of the Value Added Tax Law (VAT) was addressed. It was one of the conditions for our entry into the European Economic Community, which would materialize months later.

Also on June 20, but in 2002, during the strike called by CCOO y UGT against the reform of unemployment protection by the Government of José María Aznar, the Congress again held a plenary session. That morning, the Ombudsman, who precisely at that time was Múgica, presented his corresponding annual report for 2001. That same day, members addressed the regulation of patients’ rights.

The Wednesday September 29, 2010 a general work stoppage was scheduled against the labor reform of the Executive of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. That morning, while demonstrations were taking place, the chamber of the Upper House hosted the control session for the Government. Among other issues, the deputies asked the ministers what measures the Government was taking to guarantee compliance with the Constitutional Court's ruling on the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia.

These precedents were repeated in 2012, when Spain experienced two general strikes with Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa. On March 29, the Congress held a plenary session in which it ratified, among other regulations, the decree on urgent measures to protect mortgage debtors without resources. Months later, on November 14, parliamentary activity continued in both houses: the Congress held a session devoted to the General State Budgets for 2013, while the Senate debated initiatives related to evictions, healthcare and judicial fees.