Barcelona Strike Nov. 11: Pay Loss Is Salary Divided by 30

Workers who join the strike on Nov. 11 lose that day’s pay, and in most cases the cut shows up on the November payslip. According to labor lawyer Juanjo Guijarro, a social graduate and professor at the University of Seville, a quick estimate is to divide monthly salary by 30.

The rule covers full-time contracts. Part-time workers have to base the calculation on the percentage of the workday they work, according to Ara, which gathered explanations from a professional body, a collective and a union.

How much pay disappears on a strike day?

Montserrat Cerqueda, dean of the association of social graduates of Barcelona, Girona and Lleida, explains that joining a stoppage suspends the worker’s contract for that day. The worker stops receiving the base salary and any supplements, and also stops accruing the matching share of one day of extra pay.

A worker who is absent for the whole workday pays no contributions for it and builds up no vacation time. The November payslip therefore comes out lower than in a normal month.

Do employees have to tell the company they are striking?

No, Cerqueda says. Going on strike is the only reason for an absence that does not need to be reported, and workers do not have to inform a boss or colleagues. Employers may not ask staff whether they plan to strike. The Col·lectiu Ronda said in a statement that threats or coercion on this point could violate the fundamental right to strike.

Once a worker has joined, Cerqueda considers it “healthy” to tell the company that the absence is a strike. That step is optional, and she says it can “avoid confusion and problems”.

Can the company bring in replacements?

No. Even when managers know who is on strike, the company cannot hire people to fill the gap. It also cannot make extraordinary changes to the duties or organization of other staff to cover the missing work. The Col·lectiu Ronda adds that companies cannot use technology abusively to cancel out the effects of the strike.

What happens to workers assigned minimum services?

Minimum services keep essential tasks running during a stoppage, such as healthcare and transport. The Generalitat de Catalunya (the Catalan government) sets them by decree, and they are mandatory. A worker required to cover minimum services cannot strike during the hours they are called in to work.

The Col·lectiu Ronda says such an imposition must be justified and proportionate, and cannot be used to strip the right to strike of its content. A company cannot set minimum services on its own. The UGT of Catalonia (a trade union) says that if a company or any other body without the authority to do so sets them, the decision is null and void and may violate the right to strike. The union adds that nobody has to follow minimum services that a governmental authority did not issue.

What this means for workers on Nov. 11

The financial effect is a smaller November payslip: salary divided by 30 for most full-time staff, and a share based on the workday percentage for part-timers. A full-day absence also means no contributions and no vacation accrual for that day.

No notice to the employer is required, and employers cannot question staff about their plans. The Generalitat’s decree decides who must still work, and a company’s own list of minimum services has no legal force, according to the UGT.

Source: Ara