On the day of the general strike, Spain’s trade union leaders rejected attacks from the conservative People’s Party and the far-right party Vox. Unai Sordo and Pepe Álvarez defended the walkout on 11 November, with their organisations campaigning for affordable housing and higher wages. Leading opposition politicians, however, accuse them of acting in the interests of the government of Pedro Sánchez .
Sordo, general secretary of the trade union confederation Comisiones Obreras, said, according to a report by elDiario.es, that one could not remain neutral in a dispute over workers’ rights. Speaking on the Cadena SER radio station, he criticised the political right’s treatment of the unions. Álvarez, general secretary of the General Workers’ Union (UGT), called for respect and warned the People’s Party and Vox that they would not come to power if they did not listen to the demands being made on the streets.
Madrid’s regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso of the People’s Party had made particularly sharp comments. Among other things, she called the unions a “trade union mafia” and accused their leaders of living off political parties. These are the politician’s allegations, not independently substantiated claims about the unions’ funding.
Miguel Tellado, the People’s Party’s secretary-general, called Álvarez and Sordo additional ministers in the Sánchez government. The party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused the unions of having been inactive during Sánchez’s time in office and of now staging a pre-emptive strike in the government’s favour. Vox leader Santiago Abascal claimed that the organisers were pursuing interests that did not serve workers and were directing the strike against the opposition.
The dispute comes in the run-up to Spain’s parliamentary election on 29 November. The People’s Party called the walkout an election campaign stunt. The unions, by contrast, point to the burden of housing costs and their demand for wages that make housing accessible.
Their specific demands include raising the statutory minimum wage by at least seven per cent for 2027. The UGT is also calling for more public housing, rent controls and protection for vulnerable people from evictions. Álvarez also called on Cadena SER for a cross-party pact on housing policy.
On the course of the strike, Sordo said in the morning that participation varied from sector to sector. There was therefore no independently confirmed nationwide total.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).