Just 3.5 per cent of workers took part in Wednesday’s walkout according to Proexport
Source: Proexport
The general strike called in Spain on Wednesday in protest over housing prices failed to find support amongst agricultural workers in Murcia.
Proexport, the fresh produce grower and exporter organisation, said just 3.5 per cent of the region’s 22,000 workers employed by its member companies joined the walkout, called by the CCOO and UGT unions.
“Proexport has remained in close contact with all its member companies and can confirm that, throughout the day, operations continued as normal – both in the fields and at produce-handling facilities,” the organisation said. “While picketers were present at a couple of companies in the Campo de Cartagena area, they exercised their right to inform workers without causing any incidents.”
According to Proexport, the only notable incident involved approximately 800 workers who, early in the morning, were prevented by picketers from boarding the buses intended to transport them from Lorca to various farms and facilities in Águilas and Mazarrón, leaving them unable to reach their workplaces. Proexport commended the security forces for ensuring that no altercations occurred.
“Regarding road transport, all scheduled shipments for Wednesday were dispatched without issue and departed for their destinations across Spain and Europe, operating entirely as normal,” the organisation continued. “Supermarkets and households have received our fresh produce without any delays. This suggests that there has been no significant participation in the strike within the freight transport sector either, according to information provided to us by FROET.”
With Spain gearing up for a general election on 29 November, Proexport noted that the strike “carried a distinct political and electoral agenda, which undermined the intended purpose of this traditional tool for labour-related pressure”.
It said it was revealing that two major unions within the agricultural sector in the Region of Murcia – Uso and Redes – had chosen not to participate.
“Proexport is hopeful that, once a few days have passed and the electoral process has concluded, negotiations for the agricultural sector’s collective bargaining agreement –which the unions left unfinished over the summer – can resume, with the discussions focused exclusively on labour-related matters,” the organisation said in a statement.
