Coal miners in the historically militant Asturias region of Spain have been fighting a bitter struggle for survival. Please see the comments below for frequent updates.
Around 8,000 miners have been involved in ongoing strikes and militant protests after the government announced cuts to subsidies for the region's coal mines.
There are around 40 mines in the country, mainly in the north, where they offer vital jobs in an increasingly depressed economy. The end of the subsidy will effectively mean the end of those jobs, as Spanish coal prices will increase beyond those of imported alternatives. The strikers view winning the strike as essential to their livelihoods. It is increasingly becoming a set-piece battle as the government deepens its austerity program.
Consequently, they have utilised various forms of direct action to maximise the impact of the strike.
During the week, miners set up 16 roadblocks, severely affecting traffic in the region. One burning tire block caused a five-mile jam for over two hours. They also blocked access to the main port of Gijon, closed access to a major road tunnel after "persons unknown" sabotaged the CCTV, and protested outside a major power station. Attempts to break the roadblocks to transport people and goods in and out of the mines led to running battles with police. The strikers used rocks, concrete blocks, and home-made rocket launchers.
On Friday miners blocked several roads and two railway lines. A mineshaft is occupied, and strikers have camped out in the main square of the regional capital, Oviedo.
Comments
Mira, mira cómo vengo yo.
Traigo la camisa roja, traigo la camisa roja,
De sangre d'un compañeru, mira, mira Maruxina, mira,
Mira cómo vengo yo.
What's up with the photos? Some of them are disappearing.
Which ones? The original link could have disapeared, but also if you have Adblock or various Facebook blocks that might have something to do with it.
They've come back now!
The miners say they have received support from miners in the UK and Poland, I think some NUM delegation is going over from here at the weekend.
Nine miners arrested today charged with public order offences and with firing bolts and ball bearings at the police with catapults.
The HQ of the PP government party in Oviedo and various PP locals around Asturias were attacked last night. Two had black paint thrown all over the windows, some were bombarded with eggs and two suffered broken windows. In one a sack of coal was found afterwards on the premises.
Some motorways are being blocked with lorries across all the lanes.
Apparently there are strikes by transport workers and teachers and in the shipyards in Asturias, not sure if these are still going on, trying to find more info.
"love in times of struggle"
the night time march in Leon again
Where is that last photo from?
"the night time march in Leon again" was a cryptic clue
Ok sorry for cheap sarcasm. Leon is north east Spain. It is basically south of Gijon. The most militant miners mobilisations are mainly in Asturias but some are in Leon. There might be a few in Aragon, not too sure about that.
are you sure the photo of the kiss is from Asturias?. I think is a old one from piqueteros.
edit: it is from Chile 2011
The day before yesterday the HQ of left-wing PSOE, which heads Asturias regional goverment, in Mieres was attacked with molotov coktails, and the personal car of SOMA-UGT leader Villa (which is the classical union leader "vendeobreros" = worker seller) was damaged in Tuilla.
By the way, the confrontations with the police have a significative "folkorical" and spectacular component: you know, people not in the coal-mining area thinks "miners are miners and do this kind of things". This is in no way going out of the control of the mainstream trade-unions (CCOO_UGT) which respect and encourage these methods of struggle and pressure when the miners (or shipyard workers) use them but denounce and criminalize if any other worker (not to talk not workers) use them. Of course, by the moment, the strike is completeley under the control of main unions leadership.
In my opinion, this is probably more the last resort of a dying worker composition than an upsurge of class struggle in Spain. Maybe the miners strike encourages some other ongoing worker struggles in the country (mainly the so-called "green tide" in education) but I don't see workers in Madrid setting tyres in fire in a near future. I hope I'm wrong.
Finally, I think that the crucial discussion is not in the means but in the objectives of the struggle. Sorry, but I have no time to write more about this. Maybe other day.
Ok fair enough about the photo, it was on twitter saying it was from Asturias
Yes, I saw it after I made the comment. It is not the first time people use photos from Chile. It the Valencia Spring (#primaveravalenciana) was the same.
Also, Durruti was from Leon.
These photographs are beautiful!
Solidarity from ex-miners.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/10/time-to-stand-with-spanish-miners
... and a new sub-genre is born
'If our children go hungry, yours will shed blood'.
yeah, thanks for that - fingers that was the photo I was asking about, but my post was double posted with your second photo. I asked because it looked very different from all the other photos (I mean, it's still a great photo)
I would also like to thank ruptura for her/his very informative comments on Spain recently
I like it, but did they not miss an obvious one with 'Coal of Duty'?
thanks grupo_ruptura for the insights. i've had enough of this riot porn knowing nothing what is really going on... not that i am much wiser now hehe, but at least something.
thought i'd post this up for the info contained within. it's a letter sent from a CCOO official in response to a solidarity message from my local trades council. as such i make no claims to the politics but it does give some useful background, namely that the unions had "reluctantly" signed off on "progressive cuts" to the subsidies already as part of an EU directive. but now the government is using austerity to bring them in earlier.
also here's some more riot porn, world's most ineffective tear gassing, take that hillside.
edit: bah, can't make it work
I left you two texts from Asturias. Soory, I haven't time to translate it to english.
The first one is a text from a anti-state communist group with some members in Asturias. It is called "Let's break the isolation of the miner's struggle". You can read, in Spanish, here
The second one is a Letter form a retired miner explaining the situation:
A Photo that appeared in the Guardian's '24-Hours in Pictures' with the caption:
'Oviedo, Spain: striking coalminers behind their shields as they defend their position from riot police near the El Soton mine.'
"We have been using lengths of pipe to aim sky rockets, slings, golf ball launchers and even a home-made device to fire potatoes to keep the police away," veteran miner Gerardo Cienfuegos, 39, told the Associated Press news agency.
Today, the main Unions CCOO and UGT (and the rest of small unions in Asturias) have called a general strike in the coal-mining areas of Asturias, Leon, Aragón and Palencia. For the time being it seems it is being a complete success. Besides, today is the 18th day of indefinite strike in the mining-sector in Spain.