Support for General Strike in Spain Losing Ground
September 6th, 2010
The number of Spanish workers who said they were going to join a general strike over labour reforms set for September 29th has dropped to 9% in August, a dip of six percent from July, a poll published yesterday showed.
The survey, published in El Pais, showed the sharp decline from 15% in July who had said they were certain to take part in the strike called by the CCOO union and the more moderate UGT.
Thirteen per cent of respondents however said they would “probably” join the general strike, which will be the first since Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s Socialist government took power six years ago. The Socialist government have traditionally had good relations with the unions.
Fifty-five per cent of those surveyed said they would not take part in the strike, and 18% said they would “probably” not join it. There was a close split between those who considered the strike justified (58%) and those who saw it as unjustified (56%).
“Time has played in Zapatero’s favour,” El Pais said. “The work reform decree has been in force for two months already”, making it “impossible for the text to be changed as a consequence of the strike”. AFP
