The headquarters of CCOO in Alicante hosted a meeting today with union delegates to discuss the general strike scheduled for 11 November. Ana García Alcolea, the General Secretary of CCOO PV, addressed the assembly, outlining the reasons for the strike, which focus on demanding fair wages, access to suitable housing, and lower prices.
García stated that the strike represents a working-class struggle "so that our daughters, sons, and grandchildren have opportunities and do not have to live in a cupboard-sized room." She emphasised, "No matter how much they tell us the economy is growing, it is not reflected in people's pockets. Working people cannot make ends meet."
She also highlighted the importance of demanding quality public services, adequately resourced and staffed. García criticised the Popular Party and Vox for undermining workers' health and gender equality.
María Cueva Garcés, the head of Union Action at CCOO l’Alacantí-les Marines, referenced Article 47 of the Spanish Constitution, which recognises the right to adequate housing, describing it as a pending right that lacks protection. "We are going to stop everything because we do not want crumbs," she stated.
Eva Calleja Risueño, the General Secretary of CCOO l’Alacantí-les Marines, advocated for fair wages to eliminate gender pay gaps and for a genuine distribution of wealth. She insisted on the need for a national collective bargaining agreement, which guides negotiations on contracts and salary increases.
Calleja provided an in-depth review of the living and working conditions of the working class in the region, noting that the average salary is nearly €9,000 lower than the national average, with four out of ten salaries in the province falling below €1,000 per month. "We are the fifth province in the country by GDP but rank 42nd out of 50 in GDP per capita; the wealth is not lacking, but its distribution is," she remarked.
She called for more jobs, but crucially, for better working conditions with a gender perspective. Calleja urged all public administrations—local, regional, and central—to ensure that access to housing is "a real right and does not cost us our lives."
Furthermore, she stressed the need for effective occupational health measures in all workplaces, asserting, "We work to live, not to die." Calleja appealed for support for the general strike on 11 November, stating that this movement originates from the streets as well as from the union, "because we will not stand idly by; we are striking for our rights. Rights are not begged for; they are fought for in the streets."
