Employers Put Catalonia Strike Turnout at 8.9%, Cite Blocked Roads

Employers’ groups say the general strike on Wednesday drew little participation in Catalan industry, and that blocked roads and trouble reaching workplaces did more to slow business than the walkout itself. Pimec, the Catalan association of small and medium-sized companies, put participation at 8.9% in a first reading taken at 8:22.

In the same reading, 29% of the companies that had already started their working day reported reduced or stopped activity. Pimec said the gap comes in part from mobility difficulties and incidents that prevent normal work, even in firms where no employee joined the strike.

The Pimec figures

The Pimec Observatori (its business monitoring unit) collected the early numbers. They show how the disruption was spread:

• Almost half of the companies with affected activity had no one on strike.
• Nearly a third of companies had at least one person who could not reach the workplace because of mobility problems.
• 4.8% of the people due to work were affected by those mobility problems.
• About one in seven companies reported pickets at their work centres or at the access points.

What Cecot saw in the Vallès

Cecot, an employers’ group with a strong presence in the Vallès counties, described general normality in industry and commerce in its area, with isolated incidents mostly about mobility and access to workplaces.

In Terrassa, industrial estates worked normally early on Wednesday, including Polígon Nord, where the usual Wednesday market was still expected to go ahead. In Viladecavalls, a cut on the C-16 road caused access problems at first, and the situation later returned to normal. Rubí also reported normal activity and little effect from the strike, though some delays were attributed to mobility problems.

In shops and services, Cecot also reported normality. It said some firms, especially those with deliveries and businesses in Barcelona, had difficulty getting staff to their jobs.

CEOE reports low turnout across Spain

CEOE, Spain’s main business confederation, said preliminary data from its regional organizations, sectors and member companies show “low turnout” in most sectors and territories. It added that support was somewhat higher in more unionized areas and sectors.

The early incidents it listed were difficulty reaching industrial estates and the interior of large cities such as Barcelona, València and Sevilla because of pickets, and entry problems at the Port of Algeciras. The confederation also denounced vandalism at real estate firms in previous days and office occupations by non-union groups.

Its president, Antonio Garamendi, compared the day with the last general strike and said the fall in electricity consumption is well below the figure of that strike, which was above 14%. He said the data he has points to normality, and CEOE again called for respect for the right to work of those who want to do so.

Why it matters

The two measures in the Pimec report differ: 8.9% is how many joined the strike, while 29% is how many firms saw activity cut or halted. According to Pimec, mobility problems and pickets account for much of that difference, and almost half of the affected firms had nobody on strike. These are employers’ own estimates from the first hours of the day, so the picture can change as the day goes on.

Source: go.eln.cat