Briefing
The trade unions Comisiones Obreras (full name: Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras) and Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) reaffirmed on 3 November 2026 that the nationwide strike would go ahead as planned on 11 November. The leaders Unai Sordo (Comisiones Obreras) and Pepe Álvarez (Unión General de Trabajadores) rejected calls by the president of the Partido Popular, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, to cancel the action in view of the serious railway accident at Urda (province of Toledo) and the forthcoming general election. Feijóo had urged the unions in public appearances to reconsider the protests, describing the mobilisation as a “serious mistake”.
Sordo responded by asking whether the Partido Popular intended to govern with a programme that, in his account, would reduce revenue by around €64 billion and thereby public services be put at risk. The unions said the general strike was principally motivated by demands for affordable housing, higher real wages and stronger public services. These social concerns should not be put on hold by citing other events, representatives of both unions said.
At the same time, CCOO and UGT expressed their sympathy for the victims of the Urda accident and called for an independent, transparent investigation into its causes. The unions stressed that establishing accountability did not conflict with their industrial action.
Support for maintaining the mobilisation came from civil society groups, including the Sindicato de Inquilinas de Madrid, which noted on social media that cancelling the strike would not solve the housing crisis.
This brings into focus the tension between the aim of minimising immediate harm, emphasised by Feijóo, and the unions’ strategy of using pressure on politicians to address long-term structural problems in housing, wages and public services. Whether the escalation will lead to negotiations remains uncertain at this point.
Editor: Daniel Mayer (Article created with AI assistance).