The Partido Popular has attacked the executive of Pedro Sánchez this Wednesday for, in its view, “encouraging” an “electoral” and “political” strike a little more than two weeks before the general elections, and has stressed that this call constitutes a “nonsense” contrary to “common sense.” In addition, the party has warned that this protest will harm the “credibility” of the trade union movement.
At an information meeting organized by Artículo 14, Borja Sémper has warned that the “elite” of the unions is today causing “irreparable” and “very deep” damage to the trade union movement itself, which he has defined as “necessary in a democracy.” “And this seems to me one of today’s consequences, very relevant.”
Along these lines, he has emphasized that this strike, which he has described as “absurd politics,” will cause “damage” to the Spanish economy and, at the same time, “will harm the credibility of the trade union movement.” In his view, this call reflects the current political moment, in which “the criteria and responsibility have been reversed.”
The PP’s national spokesperson has even pointed out that “perhaps” in “some Peronist country” or “in other latitudes” there could be “some reference in which the Government encourages a general strike.”
He has also criticized that the unions made the stoppage public once the elections had been called. He has recalled that “general strikes in theory are usually called to bring about political change, to bring about at least some elections, or to go against a Government. In short, to demand that power does something,” he has emphasized, adding that this Wednesday’s protest is “against common sense.”
Sémper has insisted that he is “worried” about the “deterioration of the credibility of one of the fundamental pillars” of democracy, referring to trade union organizations. In his view, “there is no public debate about the role of the unions, which have not evolved at all,” he said.
Sémper: “It seems like nonsense to us”
After the words of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, calling for an end to “trade union filth,” Sémper avoided commenting on the substance of that statement and limited himself to pointing out that, in politics as in life, “each one expresses themselves as they consider appropriate.”
"I think it is a gross misrepresentation of what we are seeing. An unacceptable gross misrepresentation, but that is a reflection of the times we have had to live through," he has added, to emphasize that the country is in the "death throes" of Pedro Sánchez's legislature, in which, according to what he said, they have witnessed "extravagant things," "a continuous show," and "a reversal of responsibility".
In this context, he has defended that, if Alberto Núñez Feijóo reaches La Moncloa, he will bring "rationality" because he is the "adult in the room," with a "managerial" profile that aims to "calm Spanish politics".
Sémper has predicted that the general elections of 29 November will mean a "political defeat" for the left and, in addition, a social defeat, since, as he has claimed, "it has abandoned the defense of the citizens' material conditions".
Subsidies to unions: "reasonable" and "tailored" to their role
Regarding whether a future PP Government would maintain the current subsidies to unions, Sémper has said that they must be "reasonable and have to be logical, but from then on also adjusted to the role they truly play".
Along those lines, he has pointed out that trade union organizations will likewise have to review "what role they want to play in society" in a labor market that is "also changing".
"And the proposal that the PP is going to make with Feijóo at the head, if Spaniards give us their chance, is that of returning to normality, to a conversation between business leaders, unions and the Government," he has stated, to underline that it is "almost going back to the world of yesterday" and to "the normality that they should never have lost".
Tellado speaks of a crisis of union representativeness
For his part, the PP's secretary general, Miguel Tellado, has said that one will have to wait until the end of the day to know the real level of follow-through on the strike. He has indicated that he wants whoever wants to support it to be able to do so, but also that whoever prefers to go to their job should have guaranteed that right.
"Respecting a constitutional right, it is clear that this is not a general strike; it is an electoral strike. María Jesús Montero has recognized it, and I think the people calling it themselves had difficulties in expressing against whom it was, what was being demanded, what was wanted," Tellado said in an interview on Telecinco, which Europa Press has reported.
In this sense, the Popular Party leader has emphasized that it is "a preventive strike against the next Government of Spain" and "the payment of the unions, CCOO and UGT, to their respective parties in a pre-campaign where it seems that the left is in great need of support".
Asked about Ayuso's statements about withdrawing subsidies from the unions, Tellado has clarified that it is "a regulated matter" and has stressed that the PP "respects the action of the unions", which he considers "indispensable in a democratic society".
"I think that today there is a crisis of representativeness that also affects the unions of our country, as with other types of organizations." And I think that today's strike, in no way benefits", he said.
In addition, he highlighted that central bodies such as CSIF or USO have distanced themselves from this general strike. "I wouldn't like to put everyone in the same category because it would be an unfair reflection," he said, adding that, in light of the incidents of this Tuesday in Oviedo, they worked with the unions of the National Police, with whom they "exchanged information" about what happened.
Tellado concluded that, if the protest is called over housing, CCOO and UGT "are demonstrating against Pedro Sánchez", but if it is "simply and straightforwardly to influence the electoral campaign, they are working in favor of Pedro Sánchez". "I fear an awful lot that it is an electoral strike and not to defend workers' rights," he concluded.