The debate on absenteeism and sick leave has intensified after last Tuesday, the president of the People's Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, stated that they were a "cancer" of the Spanish labor market. This Thursday, during the event to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Barcelona assembly, the third vice-president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, stated that his words "disqualify him from governing Spain". "He is an economic radical, he has always governed against workers", Díaz assured hundreds of supporters and affiliates of Comisiones Obreras (CCOO).Thus, the Minister of Labor also criticized Feijóo for stating that they would move forward with measures regardless of whether they had the approval of the unions or not: "They don't care if there is social dialogue". Furthermore, Díaz called for an end to the "criminalization" of workers and urged the PP to work to reduce the waiting lists in public healthcare throughout Spain.In turn, the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, warned that in Spain "there is a real risk of regression" and that "it is important" who governs, also referring to Feijóo's statements on sick leave. "How can he consider sick leave a cancer? We will not allow these attacks on the dignity of workers," said Illa. The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, stated that Feijóo's words are a sign that right-wing parties "show their teeth". "We have seen how Feijóo trivialized and frivolized with sick leave. It is not a mistake, it is not an oversight," he sentenced.The general secretary of CCOO, Unai Sordo, also accused Feijóo of "demonizing" people who are forced to take sick leave after questioning whether a worker receives the same pay while on leave. The union leader also pointed out that his words are based on false data, because "it is not true that in Spain people on sick leave receive the same as when they are working", and warned that these messages are typical of a right-wing that "is increasingly infected by the discourse of far-right populism". "I find it extremely worrying," he added.
"Franco died in bed, but the dictatorship died in the factories": CCOO celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Barcelona assembly
On July 11, 1976, 600 members of the organization met at the church of Sant Medir
Barcelona“We want our first words to be a remembrance-homage to the workers murdered, imprisoned, and repressed by fascism, for their struggle for union freedom, democratic and national freedoms, for our rights and class interests”. On July 11, 1976, one week after the fall of Carlos Arias Navarro's government, more than 600 workers from all over Spain gathered at the Sant Medir church in Barcelona to celebrate what was the last clandestine national assembly of the Workers' Commissions (CCOO). A church was chosen as the meeting point because it was the only place where the right to assemble was permitted.
At that time, CCOO was still illegal, but the foundations were laid for what it would eventually become: "It was the act where the decision was made for the organization to become a union, anticipating how the country would evolve," explained this Thursday the general secretary of CCOO, Unai Sordo, at an event organized by the union at the Cotxeres de Sants to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the assembly. Sordo added that in Spain democracy was not a "concession from the elites," but a "product of the struggle of the male and female workers".
At Thursday's event, which brought together hundreds of union members and sympathizers, the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, also claimed "the best episode of our history," which, she assured, was the workers' struggle to overthrow "the cruelest dictatorship of all time" to establish democracy. Furthermore, she stressed the importance of unions and stated that, currently, their members continue to be the "hope" for the future of the State.
The general secretary of CCOO de Catalunya, Belén López, also wanted to highlight the role of workers in the democratic transition: “Franco died in bed, but the dictatorship died in the factories,” said the union leader. López, furthermore, emphasized the importance of unionism in the face of the "national and identity-based discourses" of the far-right, which, she said, want to "fragment" societies. For the general secretary of CCOO de Catalunya, democracy is "in crisis" and labor achievements, such as sick leave, are "at risk".
At the meeting to celebrate the anniversary of the union's foundational act, dozens of workers who were present at the same Sant Medir assembly attended. According to them, fifty years ago the heat was suffocating. This Thursday, in the midst of a heatwave and without air conditioning at the Cotxeres de Sants, the union's celebration was marked by fans.
