Redaccion
Unions will take to the streets in Galicia this Thursday, May 1st, International Workers’ Day, with a focus on reducing the workday, salary increases, and «ending wars.»
The city of Vigo will host the main protests in Galicia, where once again, UGT and Comisiones Obreras will demonstrate together, while the CIG will do so separately in various gatherings throughout the region, with Vigo as the main focal point.
Specifically, UGT and CC.OO. will hold their central demonstration in Vigo on May 1st, starting from Vía Norte at 11:30 am, along with decentralized mobilizations in Galician cities.
The protest will focus on achieving a reduction in the workweek to 37.5 hours and securing salary increases. They will also advocate for «living in peace,» demanding an «end to the genocide» in Gaza and condemning the Russian occupation of Ukraine.
«We have had a 40-hour workweek for 40 years,» lamented CC.OO.’s general secretary, Amelia Pérez, stating that «there is no justification for the stubbornness of the CEOE and employers in refusing to address this issue and shutting themselves off.»
Her counterpart at UGT Galicia, Cristóbal Medeiros, expressed the «need» for a reduction in the workweek for «dignity,» in favor of work-life balance and also to «create jobs,» arguing that it will lead to «improved production even if the employers don’t believe it.»
Additionally, both unions have raised other demands, such as reforming dismissal regulations. They recall that the European Committee of Social Rights condemned Spain for limiting compensation for unfair dismissal, calling for the restoration of processing salaries and for the employers to «sit down and negotiate.»
CIG
On their part, the CIG has also called for mobilization on May 1st to «fill the streets» against «imperialist wars» and the «militarization» of society in a context of the European Union’s «subservience» to the «warlike» interests of the United States.
Their main concentration, attended by their general secretary, Paulo Carril, will be in Vigo, starting at 12:00 pm from the intersection of A Doblada.
The union has organized over a dozen protests in various municipalities across Galicia. All of them at 12:00 pm except for Ourense (Praza Maior) and Vilagarcía de Arousa (Casa do Mar), which will be at 11:30 am, while Cangas will start at 6:00 pm at Praza do Concello.
The rest of the demonstrations will begin at 12:00 pm: A Coruña (Praza de Vigo); Carballo (Praza do Concello), Cee (Praza Otero Lastres); Ferrol (Avenida de Esteiro); As Pontes (Praza de América); Santiago (Praza Roxa); Lugo (union building); Cervo (Sargadelos factory); Verín (Praza do Concello); Pontevedra (Praza da Ferrería); A Estrada (Praza do Mercado); Vigo (A Dobrada), and A Guarda (Praza Avelino Vicente).
CGT, CNT, CUT, and the Sindicato da Elevación will hold a joint march in A Coruña at 12:30 pm starting from Plaza de Pontevedra under the slogan ‘The working class in struggle’.
As for political representatives, national spokesperson Ana Pontón will be unable to attend any of these demonstrations due to health issues, while Nationalist Party deputy in Congress Néstor Rego will join the CIG rally along with municipal spokesperson Xabier Pérez Igrexas, among others.
On the other hand, the general secretary of PSdeG will attend the demonstration organized by UGT and CC.OO. He will first go to Pereiró Cemetery at 10:00 am, where a tribute will be paid to mayors and political representatives executed during the Franco regime.
