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Catalans take to the streets as general strike shuts down region

Large numbers of Catalans observed a general strike on Tuesday to condemn police violence at a banned weekend referendum on independence, as Madrid comes under growing international pressure to resolve its worst political crisis in decades.

Published: 3 October 2017 09:35 CEST
Updated: 3 October 2017 12:45 CEST
Catalans take to the streets as general strike shuts down region
Protestors gesticulate outside the Popular Party headquarters in Barcelona. Photo: AFP
  • Authorities report that 47 roads have been blocked 
  • Traffic queues on main highways stretch up to 10km
  • Huge demo infront of Popular Party headquarters in Barcelona

A crowd several thousand strong gatherered in front of the Popular Party headquarters in Barcelona chanting “Occupiers Out!”. Similar protests took place outside Cuidadanos party offices in the region.

Public transport services were disrupted as well as port operations, after unions called for the stoppage to “vigorously condemn” the police response to the poll, in which Catalonia's leader said 90 percent of voters backed independence from Spain.

Traffic was cut along some of the main highways in the region, including the toll route AP-7 as people took to the streets to stage demonstrations.

And some of the main thoroughfares of Barcelona, including Gran Via and Via Laietana have been blocked.

READ MORE: 


Police at a polling station on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Schools and public universities were closed as well as some of the most popular tourist attractions, including the contemporary art museum, football club FC Barcelona and the Sagrada Familia.

El Prat airport reported that it was functioning normally, with no flight cancellations or delays although few taxis were to be found waiting in the arrivals rank.

“I am convinced that this strike will be widely followed,” Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said ahead of the protest.

The central government has vowed to stop the wealthy northeastern region, which accounts for a fifth of Spain's GDP, breaking away from Spain and has dismissed Sunday's poll as unconstitutional and a “farce”.

In a statement released late on Sunday, UGT and CCOO, Spain's biggest unions, the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), a powerful pro-independence civil association, and 41 other organisations called for the work stoppage due to “the grave violation of rights and freedoms.”

“We call all society, on employers' organisations, business owners, unions, workers, self-employed workers, institutions and all the citizens of Catalonia to stop the 'country' on Tuesday, October 3,” they wrote.  

Minimum services have been established during rush hour (from 6.30am to 9.30am, and from 5pm to 8pm) for subway, bus and train services, in a strike supported by the Catalan regional government.

Thousands of people have gathered this morning in Barcelona and Reus to protest in front of police stations.

TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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