Sovereignty supporters pervert the general strike The workers of Catalonia are called this Thursday to a general strike for political (and not economic) reasons

Marcos Pardeiro

The image that goes with this article as illustration corresponds to one of the most influential facts in the history of labor: the Haymarket affair (Chicago, 1886). So important was this strike that, at present, most countries commemorate the International Labor Day in memory of that event. Those North American workers protested against having to endure working hours of 14 hours and claimed "eight hours for work, eight hours for sleep and eight hours for home".

Without valuing how just or unjust their protest was, the indisputable fact is that it had deep economic motivations. Like all general strikes. Strictly speaking, like almost all of them. Because the sovereignty movement and its prodigious factory of inventions has produced a new concept of general strike: the political strike (which no law protects). The legislation is clear in this sense: "strikes are illegal when they are sustained for political reasons or for any other purpose beyond the professional interest of the workers affected".

The minority trade union of pro-sovereignty orientation Intersindical-CSC (4,000 members) is the convener of the general strike to which workers from Catalonia are summoned this Thursday. None of the big trade unions, UGT and CC.OO, has joined this strike of flagrant political motivation.

So flagrant that the pro-sovereignty entities have added to the protest with their well-known political slogans (and not economic ones), related to the trial of the procés: "Self-determination is not a crime. February 21, general strike".

To circumvent the illegality, the union CSC registered in its strike request that its reasons are "the repeal of the labor reform of the PP of 2012 and the implementation of a Catalan minimum wage of 1,200 euros." We will have to see their banners.

Those who will not be seen anywhere in Catalonia are the ministers of the Generalitat. They have suspended their public agenda, thus leaving another milestone for history: a government disappeared in the middle of a general strike.

Seat, at full speed

In fact, no one expects to see this Thursday a Catalonia of blinds half up or hordes of pickets violating the right to work. The Seat factory, the nerve center of the Catalan industry, is an example: there is no contingency plan prepared for the day today, Thursday.

The affectation, in principle, will be limited to the education sector. To the activity of the universities and the schools. Ustec (with teachers as affiliated) is the only majority organization adhering to the general strike.

The employers’ organization Foment del Treball is not deceived. In its opinion, "the spirit and purpose of the strike are clearly of a political nature", and the labor motives listed in the strike call only seek to "avoid a possible declaration of illegality".

The so-called Haymarket martyrs could not believe the extent to which the general strike has been perverted.

https://www.economiadigital.es/politica-y-sociedad/el-soberanismo-pervierte-la-huelga-general_607151_102.html