Isolated picket actions and violent anti-system protests contradicted the generally calm and respectful spirit of the general strike in Catalonia, which respect minimum services agreed on. Trade unions state that 80% of Catalan workers followed the strike. Small and medium-sized business associations quantified 1.2% of the strike’s success. The Catalan Government quantifies 11% of public employees who did not go to work today.
According to data from the Catalan Ministry of Employment, the number of unemployed people receiving additional job training education is 49.6%, exceeding the European average by 16.3%. Among young people, many are dropping out of the courses to return to formal education.
The Air Controllers Union (USCA) and AENA resume talks on workers? labour rights, avoiding huge disruptions to air travel in peak summer season
Some young workers are becoming stuck into long-term unemployment, with little future perspectives. In addition, long-term unemployment has overtaken short-term unemployment.
This afternoon the Spanish Parliament will vote on the labour market reform approved by Zapatero?s Government last Wednesday. The reform already entered into force but it can be modified or blocked today by the Parliament. Last Thursday, the President of
Prime Minister Zapatero needs the votes from other parties to pass his Labour Market reform. Artur Mas, President of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Party (CiU) has affirmed today that his party will not block the reform in the Spanish Parliament. Ci
Catalan trade unions send out opening salvo in protest against government policy on run up to European general strike on September 29th
The Spanish Government has finally issued today the highly expected reform of the labour market. Companies will be able to fire employees after paying 33 days of compensation, from which the State will pay 8.
In the rest of Spain, unemployment has decreased 1.84% in the last month. However, both Catalan and Spanish figures remain at highest rates of the last decade: about 575,000 Catalans are unemployed. In overall Spain, about 4.07 million people are jobless.