Spanish trade unions call for general strike for the right to housing

A the final date of the strike will be analyzed with social organizations and the Union of Inquiries, with the aim of mobilizing workers to adhere to this general stoppage “by the right to housing and decent wages to pay it”, indicated the unions in a joint statement.

The agreement, which will now have to be ratified by the top governing bodies of the two trade unions, brings about the intention announced last Friday, following the rejection by the Congress of the two housing decrees.

The UGT and the CCOO then announced that they would gather their governing bodies to decide how to integrate the world of work in mobilization, in a joint trade union action and in conjunction with social movements, residents and tenants.

According to the unions, last weekend’s demonstrations demonstrated the strength of this claim and the response “must be built among all the organizations that support it”.

The general strike thus addresses the different public administrations with skills in the area of housing and employers’ organisations, “who must assume that wages must guarantee access to an essential asset such as housing”, highlighted the UGT and the CCOO.

The trade union proposals were included in the proposal for the VI Employment and Collective Negotiation Agreement (AENC), which included wage review clauses, with increases between 4% and 7%, and measures to facilitate access to housing, as well as the Union Trade Union Proposal promoted by the two trade unions.

The statement explains that this proposal includes a decalogue for the right to housing, which claims a social and political pact, the creation of a permanent public park of protected housing, the limitation of rent prices and the effective application of the Law by the Right to Housing throughout the territory.

The CCOO and UGT call on workers to join the campaign, both in the workplace and on the streets, and to the general strike, insisting that they will maintain mobilization and collective negotiation “until housing is no longer a privilege and wages allow them to live with dignity”.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, today called for early elections on 29 November, ending a legislature marked by judicial cases, tensions of the executive power with judges and a legislative blockade in parliament.

Sánchez decided to advance the national elections after, on Friday, the Spanish parliament rejected two government decrees with housing measures and after more than a week of daily protests with thousands of people on the streets because of evictions and difficulties in accessing a house.

The current legislature ended in July 2027.