General strike in Spain, unions claim 85 percent participation

A general strike is underway in Spain, in protest against the government's tough new labor reforms. Largely peaceful, but with reports of some “minor incidents” and a few slight injuries, Cándido Méndez, the secretary general of one of the main unions involved, the UGT, said the strike had been “widely supported across all sectors.” It is the first general strike Mariano Rajoy's government has faced since gaining power in the last general elections in Spain and differing comparisons with the last general strike in September 2010 are being made by the government and the trade unions. Unsurprisingly, the government is saying the strike is smaller and less well supported, while unions say it is significantly bigger. Unions are currently claiming 85 percent national participation in the strike, considerably more than the approximately 70 percent of the population on strike in 2010. The government has said participation levels are “clearly inferior” to last time around and Director General of Interior Affairs, Cristina Díaz, said the 'normality levels' in work places were “very high.” The two main trade unions involved in organizing the strike, the CCOO and the UGT, tell a different story. CCOO president Ignacio Fernández Toxo hailed the strike as “a success” while the UGT claims participation of 97 percent in industry and construction and 57 percent in public administration. Regardless of what the Spanish media describes as a “war of numbers” between the government and the unions, it is clear that the strike has affected all walks of life; flights canceled, schools and offices closed, media channels off the air... the list goes on. Protest appears to have been mainly peaceful, although 58 arrests were made earlier and 9 people were injured, albeit not seriously, according to the Spanish press. The proposed labor reforms will make it easier for companies to hire and fire people and reduce mandatory severance pay from 45 day's pay per year worked to 33 day's pay. Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com