Belén López (Masies de Voltregà, 1976) has been the general secretary of CCOO of Catalonia for a year and a half. The union leader assures ARA that she expects the strike to be a success, as the public feels “challenged”. López asserts that, on the 11th, CCOO will play a key role in stopping the main Catalan workplaces: "We will steer the closure of companies and, as is to be expected, we will participate in all activities that take place with the prominence that comes with being the leading union in Catalonia".

This Monday, the majority unions –CCOO and UGT– began the final stretch towards the general strike of November 11th with a large joint assembly in Cornellà de Llobregat. The event, which brought together some 2,500 members from both organizations, called for raising wages and lowering the price of housing. The leaders of the country's main trade union organizations also took the opportunity to criticize the employers' association and right-wing parties. "Between the homeland and the flag, they always choose the wallet," stated the general secretary of UGT of Catalonia, Camil Ros.

The aging of the citizenry represents a major challenge for the country's labor market. Currently, according to data collected by the Generalitat's Labor and Productive Model Observatory, one in five employed people in Catalonia –which is equivalent to 825,600 workers– are 55 years old or older and, therefore, are expected to leave the labor market in the next ten years. In fact, the same organization's estimates indicate that, although there are currently 1.6 million people over 65 years of age, representing nearly 20% of the country's population, by 2045, it is estimated that the figure will rise to 2.4 million, which will be equivalent to nearly 30% of the total citizenry.

It has been a decade since Camil Ros (Vallromanes, 1972) has been at the head of the UGT of Catalonia. In conversation with ARA, the union leader explains that since he became independent in the center of Girona at 25 years old, he has lived in rented accommodation. At that time, as he says, he earned 175,000 pesetas doing a technical job, and the rent for a two-bedroom apartment cost him 50,000 pesetas a month. "This generational reality is, as of now, unthinkable," laments the union leader.

The Volkswagen Group is going through a deep crisis, and this is confirmed by the numbers the company presented this Thursday. During the first nine months of the year, the net result of the German parent company of Seat has plummeted, going from profits of 3.405 billion last year to losses of 2.720 billion this year. The operating profit—which comes strictly from the company's main activity, without being impacted by taxes or financial costs—also fell sharply (-98.7%) and stands at 71 million, compared to 5.408 billion a year ago. "The results make one thing clear: we cannot afford to waste time and we must act with speed and decisiveness," said the Group's CFO and COO, Arno Antlitz.

Unemployment rebounded in Catalonia during the third quarter of the year. According to the Labour Force Survey (EPA), published this Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the Catalan unemployment rate stands at 8.3%, after it was 7.9% during the second quarter of the year. Furthermore, the total number of workers has returned to brushing against the 4 million barrier. Specifically, between July and September, the number of employed Catalans rose to 3,999,900, only 2,100 people more (+0.05%) than in the previous quarter, while the country added 18,900 unemployed (+5.84%), reaching 361,800.

The popular Barcelona building Casa Seat is definitively being renamed Casa Seat Cupra. After being rebranded as Casa Cupra Raval in recent months in a marketing move to promote the Catalan firm's new vehicle, both brands from Martorell will finally be represented in the naming of the central building, located at the intersection of Passeig de Gràcia and Avinguda Diagonal.

A strike on the "offensive". This is how the general secretary of Comissions Obreres de Catalunya, Belén López, defined the general strike scheduled for November 11th this Thursday, the first 24-hour strike in 14 years. "It is an opportunity for trade unionism to change its stride," assured the leader of the Principality's majority union in a meeting with journalists, adding that "the era of reaching agreements has ended, unfortunately."

A few weeks ago, the Catalan pharmaceutical company Salvat announced its intention to move its entire production capacity to the factory it has in Alcalá de Henares, in Madrid. The decision involves halting the production currently carried out at the Esplugues de Llobregat plant, where the pharmaceutical company has its headquarters. According to union sources speaking to ARA, the company and employees have agreed that the relocation will ultimately result in up to 143 layoffs at the Catalan plant. The layoffs will be carried out progressively until 2030, at which point the company plans to have relocated its entire production capacity to Madrid. Currently, between 300 and 350 people work at the Salvat laboratories center in Esplugues de Llobregat.

The 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.

Training as an insertion tool. The Formació i Treball Foundation is a true institution in Catalonia. It was founded in 1992 by Caritas and its main objective is to train people at risk of social exclusion so that they can subsequently be inserted into the labor market. Their model is radically opposed to that of traditional companies: while companies usually seek to retain talent, the foundation provides jobs to hundreds of people so that they can later work in conventional companies. "Our reason for being is the labor insertion of people," the entity's president, Misi Borràs, assuresCompanies.

New setback for the European Union's climate goals. The continent's economic engines, France and Germany, reached an agreement this Friday to soften the climate requirements for the automotive sector and maintain the manufacturing of combustion vehicles beyond 2035. This was announced by the French government in a statement, in which it details that the pact also includes tools to strengthen production conditions within Europe. This proposal has been a major demand from European manufacturers, who are currently working hastily to electrify in the face of strong Chinese competition.

The construction materials company Molins, under the brand specializing in urban furniture Escofet, has inaugurated its first production plant in the United States in the state of Oklahoma. With the new plant, as the Catalan company reported in a statement, Molins hopes to bring industrial capacity closer to its customers, reduce delivery times, and respond with greater agility to the needs of the American and Canadian markets. Currently, the North American market represents nearly 6% of the turnover of the urban landscape business. With the start-up of the new plant, the industrial company aspires to increase its weight to 30%. Until now, Molins supplied both countries with exports from Europe.

Seat models continue to sell –and a lot– throughout the Spanish territory. Although their future is up in the air given the company's plans not to electrify its models, its product range is consolidating in the State: according to the data released this Wednesday by the Catalan company, the brand totaled 52,660 registrations between January and September, which represents 4.3% more than in the same period of 2025.

The major trade unions are calling for a minimum wage (SMI) increase of at least 7% by 2027, placing it above 1,300 euros per month. In a joint press conference held by the UGT and CCOO in Madrid, both organizations defended an increase that would update the threshold to at least 1,306 gross euros paid over 14 installments, or 1,524 euros over twelve. Currently, the state minimum wage is 1,221 gross euros in fourteen payments, which is equivalent to 1,424 euros in twelve monthly installments.

“Right now we have no plans to electrify Seat models”. The CEO of the Catalan industrial company, Markus Haupt, assured this Monday in Paris that the brand does not plan to electrify any of its cars, despite stating that “the future is electric”. Thus, Haupt pointed out that “regulation” will be what dictates the future of the Seat brand in the face of demanding European regulations to decarbonize the automotive industry. It will also be necessary to see what the evolution of the market is, which is increasingly betting on electric vehicles: “Even if there is a second period of flexibility (regarding emission regulations), we have to see if customers in the main markets will continue to buy combustion vehicles”.

The Volkswagen Group – parent company of the Catalan brands Seat and Cupra – demanded this Sunday in Paris to "reward" the production of vehicles made in Europe to be able to compete on equal terms with Chinese manufacturers. Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume asserted that Europe "must continue to guarantee fair competitive conditions in its own markets." "Whoever sells here must compete under comparable conditions and also create jobs and value here, in Europe," the executive emphasized, at an event also attended by the CEO of Seat and Cupra, Markus Haupt.

The business association Cecot held the 31st Business Night this Thursday in Sant Cugat del Vallès. During the meeting, the president of the association, Xavier Panés, questioned the call for a general strike due to the housing crisis: "Now, a strike? A strike against whom? Against the Government? Against companies? Immersed in a spiral of rising costs and international disruptions that make their viability and continuity more difficult every day". Furthermore, in light of the call for elections, the president of the Vallès business association called for maintaining "respect for institutions" and not "denigrating adversaries". The meeting was attended by the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, the president of the Parliament, Josep Rull, and the Spanish government's Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, among others.

As of this Monday, companies must transparently inform their employees about a series of working conditions. Specifically, companies must state in writing in employment contracts the existence of algorithmic or automated systems that intervene in decision-making regarding employees' working conditions.

Matías Carnero (UGT) is not only the president of the Seat works council, but he is also a member of the Volkswagen Group's supervisory board, the highest control body of the German company. He speaks with ARA in the midst of the consortium's crisis: the group is expected to eliminate up to 100,000 jobs worldwide and significantly reduce its models. The historic Catalan brand Seat could be greatly affected.