The central demonstration of the general strike of November 11th will be at Jardinets de Gràcia

BarcelonaThe platform Ens Costa la Vida, the Tenants' Union (Sindicat de Llogateres), and the Trade Union Table of Catalonia –a coordination space that brings together various alternative unions such as the CGT– have announced that the main demonstration for the 24-hour strike for housing and wages on November 11th will take place at Jardinets de Gràcia, in Barcelona, at 5:30 PM. As union sources explain, before the announcement, the proposal had not been previously conveyed to the major unions, although, according to them, CCOO has already decided to call for a demonstration at the same location, and everything suggests that the UGT will decide the same.

In a press conference held this Monday, the "alternative" entities also announced that this afternoon they will set up the "operations center" for the strike at the Faculty of Philology and Communication of the University of Barcelona. The organizations will set up a meeting point for the strike committees at the Historic Building, where assemblies and the logistical tasks necessary for November 11th to "be a success" will be carried out. "The strike does not start on November 11th, it starts today, and it has already begun," asserted Enric Aragonès, spokesperson for the Tenants' Union.

Wage and housing demands

The general strike will have labor and housing claims. On one hand, the protest demands a reduction in rental prices, “in accordance with the wage reality of the working class,” that residential stability be guaranteed with indefinite rental contracts, and that evictions be suspended “without a residential alternative.” On the other, it demands “prohibiting all purchases that have a speculative purpose” and “recovering empty apartments or those intended for tourism.” Another point of the demands is the recognition of housing unions as “interlocutors” and the protection of the rent strike as a right comparable to labor strikes.

Regarding strictly labor-related requests, the entities have demanded reducing the workday to 35 hours and “prohibiting structural overtime,” as well as increasing the minimum wage and pensions to 1,500 euros, and also linking salaries to the evolution of inflation. “Enough is enough, we are getting poorer every day; it is not fair,” said Rubén Páez, spokesperson for the platform Ens Costa la Vida.

The official register

Furthermore, in Catalonia, the CGT registered this Monday the 24-hour strike notice for the upcoming November 11th. As explained from the University of Barcelona by the spokesperson for the Trade Union Table of Catalonia and general secretary of the CGT, Montse Sànchez, they are not worried about the strike receiving any kind of challenge, and she defended that the stoppage is "well-founded" with labor-related reasons. It is expected that CCOO of Catalonia and UGT of Catalonia will also register the stoppage at the Department of Business and Labor this Tuesday.

For their part, the headquarters of the CCOO and UGT unions in Madrid officially registered this Monday the call for the general strike on November 11th at the headquarters of the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy. The general secretary of CCOO, Unai Sordo, defended the strike as a day to "lead to a great social mobilization of a transversal, unitary character" throughout the Spanish state. On behalf of UGT, the general secretary, Pepe Álvarez, criticized that with current wages "the vast majority of workers" cannot access housing and expressed that the strike mobilization "has as its recipients, in the first place, those who feel alluded to."

But the call will have to overcome the challenge from the employers' association: this same Monday, the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, reiterated that they will challenge the general strike, which he described as "electoral." "Are companies and the self-employed to blame for there being no housing in Spain?" asked Garamendi. Furthermore, the leader of the CEOE also lashed out against the Spanish government's desire to raise the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) by 2027 and accused the Ministry of Labor of encroaching on the powers of business organizations with changes to the Economic and Social Council (CES).