Mallorca politicians clash over 11 November general strike
Mallorca, Spain: a call for a general strike on 11 November puts housing and pay at the centre of a clash in the Balearic parliament on Tuesday. At the sitting in Palma, Balearic labour minister Catalina Cabrer says she respects the call by unions UGT and CCOO. Vox politician Sergio Rodríguez questions whether the strike is justified.
Cabrer says the government does not yet know the details because the strike call still has to be submitted to the national labour authority. From what she has read, difficulty finding housing and demands over pay are behind it. She says she understands the frustration over housing, but whether to join the strike is for each person to decide.
The Balearic government has 10,000 homes in planning and another 1,800 public homes going through official procedures, Cabrer says. She also says wages in the Balearic Islands have risen more than in any other Spanish region and faster than inflation, crediting collective bargaining.
Rodríguez argues that the strike is aimed at the opposition. He also questions what UGT has done for housing, pointing to premises in Madrid that he says the union rented to a hotel chain.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com