Several Spanish trade unions have already called a general strike for 11 November, but the leader of Spain's biggest union CCOO says a joint strike with Portuguese unions is now being considered.
Portuguese and Spanish trade unions are in talks over a possible "Iberian general strike", Unai Sordo, secretary-general of Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), said on Thursday in an interview with the programme "Los Desayunos" produced by Spanish broadcaster RTVE and the EFE news agency.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
According to Sordo, Portuguese unions are considering calling a general strike on 11 November, the same day as a planned walkout in Spain involving the country's two main trade union confederations, CCOO and the General Workers' Union (UGT).
The aim, Sordo explained, is to organise an "Iberian general strike", although he stressed that the plan depends on a decision by Portuguese trade unions.
'Saramago strike'
"It is up to the Portuguese to decide whether, in the end, we join forces in a mobilisation across the Iberian Peninsula that would also be historic", the CCOO secretary-general said.
Sordo also caustically referred to José Saramago, the Portuguese Literature Nobel laureate, who spent nearly two decades living in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands and maintained close ties with progressive movements.
"If they hold [the strike] in Portugal, we are going to call it the Saramago strike", Sordo concluded.
The general strike in Spain on 11 November has been planned for several weeks and is scheduled to take place 18 days before snap elections called by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, after parliament rejected government measures aimed at tackling the housing crisis.
Both countries have seen protests over housing affordability and the rising cost of living. Inspired by demonstrations that began in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square in late September, thousands of protesters camped overnight in central areas of Portuguese cities, including Porto and Lisbon.
Demonstrators in both countries are demanding decent, affordable housing, with many arguing that having a job is no longer enough to afford rent in major cities.
