CGT union still pushing strike from Barcelona’s cleaning and garbage collection workers

The CGT union is still supporting a strike from Barcelona cleaning and garbage collection workers from Sunday 24 to Friday 29. The walkout was first organized by the UGT union, which on Friday agreed on a new salaries deal with the city council and called off the strike.

For CGT, the new deal is a clear "loss of purchasing power" and rejects the agreement as it has been signed "behind workers' back and with no consultation with the affected people," the union claimed. 

The deal for CGT is not enough and considered UGT "a union working for the company." On Friday night, the UGT announced that workers would get a 9.1% increase in wages. For 2019 wages, they will raise them by 0.6%. 2020 will remain the same, while for 2021, workers will see a 6% increase. Regarding 2022, unions and the city council agreed to advance 2.5% of the wage but limited the potential future negotiations to 4%.

For the UGT, this is "a great deal" that allowed them "to call off the strike." On a similar note, the CCOO union, who had also called their affiliates to go on strike, welcomed the deal but regretted that companies push their workers to the limit of calling a strike to get better working conditions. 

In Barcelona, there are some 4,000 cleaning staff and garbage collectors employed by four different companies the council has outsourced this work to. Their salaries have not had been increased at all since 2018 despite inflation, currently at an all-time high. If the strike had gone ahead, it would have been the first of its kind in 40 years.