2023-05-01 13:31:13
Under the slogan “raise wages, lower prices and distribute profits”around a thousand people demonstrated this Monday in Girona in the mobilization called by CCOO and UGT for theMay 1.
“Let prices fall and wages rise”, “we want to work with dignity”, “salary or conflict”, or “let employers pay for this crisis” were some of the chants that could be heard from the demonstrators during the rally, which started in Plaça Independència, passing through Jaume I, and ended in Plaça del Vi.
There, the representatives of the majority unions addressed all the participants of the march. Unions complain that companies are accumulating profits that are not passed on to workers’ wages, which is why they are calling for a better distribution of wealth. “We want a society for everyone, not just for a few”, claimed the general secretary of the UGT in the Girona regions, Maxi Rica.
Rica believes that on the part of the business sector the prevailing idea is that “if I’m doing well, if I’m making ends meet, if I have full pockets, a happy stomach and a Porsche on the street, then society is doing well; so no it’s not true, the majority of us are not doing well“, he explained. For this reason, he calls for solutions that are “viable for companies, but also for workers”.
For her part, the general secretary of CCOO in the Girona regions, Belén López, assured during her speech that “inflation is driving us working people into poverty». “In Girona the shopping basket has increased by 14% and wages by 4%”.
The general secretary of CCOO in the demarcation has demanded that companies “share the benefits with the working class”. “Social responsibility is not a piece of paper, it’s not installing photovoltaic panels, it’s not doing a protocol of I don’t know what; social responsibility is to pay decent wages so that people can make ends meet, feed their children and pay for electricity“, he explained.
In addition, Belén López explained, during his speech at the final stage of the rally, that, apart from the salary increase, the workers “have other rights to conquer: the rights to citizenship, the right to education or the right to healthcare”. Too, López pointed out that “this country needs to make a pact for young people. We cannot have our youth as we have them, without emancipation and without a job that is not precarious».
The municipal ones, to touch
Municipalities were also protagonists during the day. With elections around the corner, unions have called on left-wing political parties to take workers’ needs into account. “Comrades on the left, the only way to deal with the advancement of fascist and totalitarian policies is to improve the material conditions of working people”, said Belén López.
With an eye on the elections, union representatives have also addressed the workers. «We do not support fascist, xenophobic parties, we vote for those who speak our language, who care about usMaxi Rica asked. “Going to vote is not just going to put a ballot in a ballot box, it’s deciding which cities and towns we want to live in”, added Belén López.
“We must all go together”
During the march, some of the participants explained to this newspaper the importance of demonstrations like the one held this Monday. «The working class is divided; we have to see that we’re all equally screwed and on days like this it’s to remind ourselves that we have to go together, because if we don’t we can’t change anything», said Lluís Palermo, a computer scientist who is currently unemployed. “I think it is necessary to solve the problem of housing and regulate the price of rent. In addition, it is also important that salaries do not remain stagnant, despite the fact that small improvements are being made, the base salary must be increased”, he added.
However, for this same reason, some of the demonstrators consider that the participation of citizens should be higher. “As the situation is in terms of precariousness, it seems to me that there are few people”, said Manuel Férez, university professor.
“People don’t have a serious enough view of what a day like this, like May 1, means. It’s more comfortable to be at home”, explained Carmen Asunción España, administrator and assistant at the rally.
Manifestation of the CGT and the IAC
Later, from 6 p.m., Girona hosted an alternative demonstration to the one held in the morning. La Rambla de la Llibertat was the meeting point of the rally organized by the CGT and the IAC. “His benefits, our misery” or “if you don’t fight today, don’t cry tomorrow”, were some of the slogans that headed some of the banners that the demonstrators showed during the rally.
Alternative trade unionism has demanded the repeal of the labor reform, the reduction of the retirement age in demonstrations held in different cities of Catalonia. In Banda de Girona, in the afternoon, the CGT and the IAC have also been protagonists in Barcelona and Tarragona.
Nylstar reaches settlement with committee and lays off 42 workers
The works council of the Nylstar textile company in Blanes has reached an agreement with the company’s bankruptcy administrator. On April 24, the ERO agreement was signed, which involves the total liquidation of the workforce. This will be done in two phases.
First, a total of 42 workers lose their jobs at the Blanes company. From this point, the company temporarily maintains 43 employees pending a possible purchase of the textile production unit.
Two weeks ago it became known that a company in the textile sector is interested in buying the production unit of the company in Blanes, which entered bankruptcy more than two months ago. However, at this time, there are no new developments and, as explained by the committee, the interested company has not yet finalized any offer.
The general secretary of the UGT, Maxi Rica, wanted to address the workers of the Blanes company during his intervention in the demonstration on May 1. “They have reached a painful, difficult agreement, but which gives continuity to the industry. They have had, like so many others, a businessman who is more than a businessman, he is a speculator, who was only in it for the money and who was not interested in the working people. From here all our support, they will have us with them”, he explained.
The committee considers that the possible purchase of the production unit “must be accompanied by a real and effective industrial project, an investment plan and a viability plan that guarantees the future of industrial activity and creates more employment in our territory”. In addition, they report that “we believe that our political leaders, both at regional and local level, have an important role to play and this is what we expect from them”.
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