General strike called for 29 March in protest at new Government labour reforms

[aspasia]

The CCOO and UGT have called a general strike for 29 March. The coordinator of Izquierda Unida, Cayo Lara, said that the strike call is the response of workers and Unions to useless, unjust and ineffective labour reform policies. The CCOO and UGT took their decisions separately and will hold a joint press conference shortly. JAA

[aspasia]

 There is still confusion over minimum services during Thursday's general strike. The General Secretary of the CCOO, Juan Jesús Arteaga, said that despite a meeting yesterday with the Canarian Government's Work minister, Gloria Gutiérrez, the Government seemed unprepared to negotiate, and wanted "excessive" minimum cover.

It seems that the main areas to be affected here on Thursday will be schools and the health service, with the Unions calling for everyone but school Heads to strike on the day, and for the health service to be "like a fiesta day". The transport situation is unclear, but it looks as though air traffic might be affected, with the possibility of only one return flight between the Canaries and the mainland as far as national travel is concerned. Clearly anyone travelling into or out of Tenerife from further afield on Thursday 29th should check with their carriers before setting out.

[aspasia]

 As always, statistics are disputed. Unions say there has been 77% support for the strike, a level they call "historic". Business leaders and the authorities, however, say that support has been low and that the day's activities have seemed normal with "massive" attendance at work. Even with the usual massage of figures that can be expected on both sides, this discrepancy beggars belief. JAA

[Nova]

According to a policeman at the scene, 1,000 people turned out to the demonstration in Los Cristianos.  Apparently, nine of our branches in Santa Cruz suffered some sort of damage such as silicone round the doors.  I'd still say it sounds like a bit of a cop-out though.  77%?  Who exactly?  I know of no-one who striked today 

(That is the word isn't it?  My spellchecker doesn't like it...)

[aspasia]

not sure ... thought it was "struck" ... 

[Nova]

You're probably right, but struck just doesn't sound right in this sense and a quick google is inconclusive.  I'll just rephrase it:

I know of no-one who joined the strike today