NEARLY THREE million Spanish workers downed tools for 24 hours last Thursday in the country's first general strike for nine years. Called by the traditionally Communist-led Workers' Commissions in protest against the Socialist government's plans to slash state pension rights, the strike won support that was 'much higher than we hoped for'.
Seventy five per cent of fact of eras dis pee COUL WENCE transport and service secLuis were estimated have joined in. The mines Asturias and main dustrial centres of the Basque country and Catalonia were paralysed. Valencia and the industrial outskirts of Madrid came to a virtual standstill, whilst press and y coverage was blacked out and artially air traffic severely disrupted.
About 100 arrests were made workers better organised, larger plants mounted mobile pickets to bring out their colleagues smaller workplaces. then went or to hold protest rallies in the city centres part of Madrid there were even reports of police firing live ammunition over strikers' heads. is of the hard on the heels of mammoth, million-strong demonstrations against membership that welcomed Ronald Reagan to the Spanish State early May, this 20 June general strike suggests a growth of mobilisation co's dictatorship.
Jy the strike call had a lot to do with manoeuvres by different disintegrating Spanish Communist . in the eadership of the Workers' Commissions.
But none of this, nor the refusal of the rival Socialist-led General Workers' Union (UGT) to back the strike — they called their own diversionary protest weeks earlier basic fact: hundreds of thousands of workers saw this as a first real chance to premier Felipe Gonzalez' "socialist policies that have raised unemployment to 23 per cent and cut wage-earners share of the national income by several per cent.