The Spanish anarcho-syndicalist union the CNT is calling for a nationwide walkout against the government's new labor law reform.
Their press release stated:
The labor reform that the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Party] intends to introduce will be the greatest act of aggression against the rights of workers since the transition to democracy.
We must use the one-day strike as a trigger for later and broader mobilisations.
A labor reform that they claim is justified by the crisis, but that in reality is only oriented to creating opportunities for employers to use irregular contracts, ignore collective agreements, and fire their workers more cheaply. A reform that will mean more temporariness and deregulation in contracting workers; a substantial reduction of the penalties for improper firings; enormous opportunities for employers to break away from agreements in matters such as wages, the working day, or guaranteed hours. More precarity, more insecurity, less income, less rights. This is how the PSOE governs.
Yet, in spite of all this, this reform is only the tip of the iceberg. Beneath lies the reality: the miserable working conditions in the immense majority of companies, the continual non-fulfillment of agreements, paying lower wages than stipulated, insecure work, working full-time on a half-time contract; the obligation to work extra hours if you do not want them to fire you, or skipping vacations or doing the work that they order you to do, even if you're not supposed to. All this if you don't want them to show you the door. Another piece of the reality is formed by the contempt with which we are treated by governments, politicians, and the media, in which they present us as lazy, unproductive, and useless. We, the workers, live knowing that we are interchangeable, that we are clutter who can only find work if we do it cheaper than whoever was doing it before. We live with the fear of not knowing if tomorrow we will continue to be paid, or even continue to eat.
And what are we going to do? Sit down to wait and see how everything turns out? Hope that maybe one day we will find good work? Elbow each other in a struggle to grab the last subsidy?
Anyone who wants to do this, go for it – you will be rewarded with nothing but misery. But the CNT is proposing something else to the working class: the struggle for our rights and our dignity. Without state financing [subvenciones], without union bureaucrats paid for by the companies [liberados], without mortgaging ourselves to the political system. Although we can't guarantee to anyone that we will be able to bury this reform, what we can guarantee is that we will give it everything we've got. We are calling upon everyone who wants to form part of this fight to come to our locals and organise themselves in the CNT.
Therefore we are calling for the General Strike on September 29th. Let this strike serve as a trigger for the mobilisations that lie ahead for the working class if we want to stop the Labor Reform. And regain our dignity.
*Translated from the press release of September 6 (http://cnt.es/noticias/nota-de-prensa-cnt-llama-la-huelga-el-29-s) by OliverTwister.
Comments
BTW, this strike is part of
BTW, this strike is part of European-wide actions to be held on the 29th - I believe in 9 countries. We will probably go with a blok to our local demo with some more radical propaganda and we heard that comrades in Italy and Portugal may also. Anybody else?
Found no mention of any
Found no mention of any actions in Slovakia. Most probably the union representatives will again join the demo in Brussels.
Yes. In Czech Republic
Yes. In Czech Republic something is happening. I think the rest go to Brussels.
Hey Oliver, thanks very much
Hey Oliver, thanks very much for translating and posting this.
I have made a couple of minor editorial changes, which I will explain:
- I have rewritten the introduction to be like a news article, rather than a copy of a press release. Opinions rather than factual news we prefer to include as a credited quote.
- I have fixed the tags to make them more in line with how we use them in general on the site.
Look forward to more contributions in future!
General strike in France on
General strike in France on September 23rd - called by the unions not to coincide with the other General Strikes. No sign so far of any breaks with or attacks on the unions.
is it only the CNT or are
is it only the CNT or are other unions also mobilising
Most unions, if not all, are
Most unions, if not all, are mobilizing.
in fact, cnt most probably
in fact, cnt most probably joined as the last ones, as they were not clear about the whole thing which was announced but major unions.
That's right - because a
That's right - because a one-day general strike by the mainstream unions is a farce. The only reason to join is to have a presence and call for radicalization of protest and an indefinite strike.
Reposting the latest from
Reposting the latest from Indymedia uk
Thank you for the translation of the CNT release. It would be great if the you tube video could also be translated.
And in the UK?
And in the UK?
What do you think?
What do you think?
Might be an opportunity for
Might be an opportunity for some kinda tokenistic event at least...I guess it's short notice now.
Is that an invite?
Is that an invite?
Ah that shit's in a PARK?
Ah that shit's in a PARK? :|
September 29 is meant to be a
September 29 is meant to be a European day of action, called by the European TUC. Don't think there is much going on in London, though - Wednesday is a work day.
At my work, day of action as we are mobilising for the October 20 demonstrations, with the announcement of the comprehensive spending review
We have a modest mob planned
We have a modest mob planned for the 29th. There's no strike in Poland though, just a soft symbolic action.
articles on the strike:
articles on the strike: http://www.kaosenlared.net/especial/huelga%20general%2029-S (en castellano)
In Polish:
In Polish: http://cia.bzzz.net/strajki_i_protesty_pracownicze_w_calej_europie