For a decent job. Some 450 people, according to National Police sources, have participated in the traditional demonstration for May 1, called by the unions CCOO and UGT de Huelva and to which various political parties such as the PSOE and Izquierda Unida have joined.
The demonstration that began at 11:00 a.m. from Plaza 12 de Octubre and culminated in Paseo de Santa Fe, had as its motto ‘Raise Wages, Lower Prices, Share Benefits’.
Both unions have put on the table the main demands for this day, such as high inflation, “they are severely punishing a province in which its workers have the second lowest average salary in Spain with an average salary of 15,200 euros per year ”, has indicated Jula Perea, general secretary of CCOO.
Perea has stressed that “in our province of every 10 workers, 6 receive a salary below the Minimum Interprofessional Wage, with women being the most affected since their average salary barely reaches 12,000 euros per year.”
Likewise, Julia Perea has highlighted that on May 1st the unions want to “value the policies carried out by the central government to combat the high rates of inflation, as well as the agreements reached by the coalition government with the economic agents and social with the ERTE, the rise in the SMI, the recovery of unemployment benefits, the equality plans, the Rider Law and two key agreements that have improved the labor relations model and the lives of millions of people in this country.
The general secretaries of the CCOO and UGT of Huelva, Julia Perea and Sebastián Donaire, respectively, have assessed the demonstration on May 1 as a “success”. Both leaders have affirmed that “Huelva has participated massively to claim that people should be the center of politics.”
A day in which the union organizations have once again highlighted their commitment “to continue fighting to achieve more and better rights for workers, highlighting the social and labor achievements achieved through social dialogue”.
Sebastián Donaire and Julia Perea have led the concentration to which the citizens of Huelva have joined to ask on the street for “measures to recover the purchasing power of workers” and to influence “the need for a salary increase to alleviate the crisis of inflation that is largely motivated by an excessive rise in prices that working people cannot cope with while they see how companies benefit”.
In this sense, Perea and Donaire have been very critical of the employers, “since the companies are mainly responsible for the economy and employment not growing more and faster” the unsupportive and irresponsible attitude of the business community in this country is unacceptable that, while obtaining multimillion-dollar profits at the cost of raising prices, they refuse to raise wages”
In this way, and in a context in which the central axes of the demands have been the salary increase and the distribution of wealth, the unions “we have seen the clamor of Huelva in the streets to demand that the CEOE that within a period of time close an agreement with the unions in a short time”.
This May 1st CCOO and UGT claim:
- Raise wages commensurate with the cost of living.
- Forge broad alliances in society for a better redistribution of wealth.
- Put limits on the usury of the benefits of large companies.
- Promote collective bargaining.
- Negotiate the price of dismissal in Spain.
- Promote the just transition of the economy, creating green jobs.
- Continue reducing the wage gap between men and women.
- Advance LGTBI+ rights in the world of work and promote dual professional training more strongly
- Increase labor inspection to attack job insecurity.
In this sense, Huelva union organizations have demanded compliance with the European Social Charter, not only increasing the SMI to 60% of the average salary, but also protecting employment as it deserves. In Spain, it is still too easy and cheap to resort to dismissal, so it is essential to raise it to make it truly dissuasive and in accordance with current social circumstances.
Likewise, CCOO and UGT on this May 1 have wanted to value the policies carried out by the central government to combat high inflation rates, as well as the agreements reached with economic and social agents with the ERTE, the recovery of unemployment benefits, equality plans, the Rider Law and two agreements that have been essential to improve the labor relations model and the lives of millions of people in this country, in Andalusia and in Huelva, such as the Labor Reform and the pension reform agreement, which in our province benefits 107,000 pensioners who have been guaranteed an improvement in their purchasing power”.
The unions have also addressed the Government of the Junta de Andalucía to demand that it implement the Pact signed by the Andalusian impulse, which includes an anti-inflation plan with measures for working families and companies that will allow against the effects of rising prices in Andalusia.
On a day like this, the union leaders did not want to let the political future pass by and have sent a message of coherence to the population in the face of this year’s electoral processes because, as they have stressed, “working people risk continuing to advance in improving the quality of life and our labor and social rights or jeopardizing everything achieved so far”.
This year, as a novelty, at the end of the demonstration, in addition to the general secretaries of the UGT and CCOO, union representatives from different sectors of both organizations have intervened, seeing how their working conditions are diminished and they lose labor rights.
Thus, the representatives of the postal sector have expressed their position against the scrapping of mail on Labor Day and their defense of the public postal service, demanding sufficient staff with rights.
The demands of the dependency sector on Labor Day have been aimed at achieving improvements in the working conditions of Home Help workers and have urged the administrations to update the Order that regulates the service in Andalusia because it is outdated and it is not in accordance with reality.
For his part, the union representative of the private security sector has demanded this May 1st the need for the administration to actively adopt the necessary measures to ensure that companies respect the application agreement. As well as establishing mechanisms in public tenders that ensure that workers in the sector are guaranteed the collection of all concepts established by the application agreement.
And finally, the head of health has stated that it is urgent public and quality Primary Care, has demanded on this Labor Day, the withdrawal of the decree of privatization of primary care. urges to the Andalusian Government to start up the maternal and child hospital, guarantees that the stroke unit will not be eliminated and that the works be undertaken to carry out the Chares committed for more than a decade”. Huelva needs, more than any other province, an urgent change in health policies.
For the unions, UGT and CCOO, today’s demonstration on the occasion of the International Day of Workers is a turning point because if wages are not raised there will be more social conflict in the streets.
Reactions to the demonstration on May 1 for Labor Day
The general secretary of the PSOE of Huelva, María Eugenia Limón, has valued on this May 1st, the measures of the Government of Spain to improve the labor situation of families and working people, “today it is very It is important to remember all these measures, to take to the streets demanding all these rights and freedoms and, above all, to demand that we cannot consent from the political parties, from the Socialist Party, from the union with the unions, to take a step back in everything achieved”.
María Eugenia Limón has pointed out that, “in the face of the war in Ukraine and inflation, which is having all world governments very concerned about the rise in prices that is affecting, above all, the domestic economy, the quality of life and to the well-being of the citizenry in general, the Government of Spain is doing its homework by putting numerous measures on the table”.
