Parents call indefinite strike

JIMENA Parents at Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles primary school in Jimena have called an 'indefinite strike' as from this morning. The decision was made on Friday, in protest against the fact that two teachers have been cut from what the parents consider necessary. One of them is a support teacher, whose presence would allow for splitting First Grade (Primero de Primaria), which at present has 28 children in a single inadequate classroom, and the other is a Special Needs assistant to attend to a couple of kids in the class. The strike meant that this morning the parents of the kids impacted most by the (usual, annual) cutbacks asked the rest of the school's parents for their support in not letting their kids into school. Some could not do so as they had to work, or hadn't heard about the circumstances. The strike is expected to continue despite th intervention of Mayor Guillermo Ruiz, who tried in vain to intervene. More photos below)

Primary school parents to come out 'on strike'

JIMENA Parents of children in First Grade (1º de Primaria) decided yesterday evening to hold a strike as from Monday, when they will not be bringing their children to school for an indefinite period. Having not received a satisfactory answer, in writing or even verbally, to their protests by 2pm, they held a meeting at 6pm and came to the decision. Protests are about the fact that they believe there are too many chidren, 28, in a classroom, particularly when several of them need special attention and a Special Needs monitor has been removed from the roster.>>>

Air strike looms; talks break down

Talks between Spain's airports authority AENA and air traffic controllers  have broken down, heightening the prospect of a strike this month. The two sides had been expected to reach an agreement by last Friday, after which time AENA said it was hoping to settle the dispute out of court. The head of the state agency, Juan Ignacio Lema Devesa, said at a press conference last week in Madrid that talks would not continue 'under pressure of a strike'. Nevertheless, the deadline has been pushed back and Spain’s air traffic controllers will now decide on Thursday whether to go ahead with their walk out. According to  controllers' union spokesman, Daniel Zamit, (Full story on CampoPulse)

Unions announce general strike

The two main Spanish unions, Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO.) and Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), have announced that there will be calling a general strike. The date is to be announced in a joint statement by the two unions tomorrow. Meanwhile, Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales (CEOE, the equivalent of Britain's CBI), has said that a general strike will hamper recovery, and has called the unions to "push in the right direction." There have been five general strikes in Spain since the advent of democracy in 1978: in 1985, 1988, 1994 and 2002.

Council workers to strike on Tuesday, June 8

The municipal workers of Jimena are coming out on strike in support of the national civil servants strike to be held throughout the country on June 8, Tuesday next. They are striking against the measures taken by the central government, which announced wage cuts of 5% for all public servants in the country and a wage freeze for 2011. The Town Hall has also announced a 'minimum service' plan for that day (See below). Among other things, a communiqué from the Council workers says, "We are not striking against the governing party but against the decision to use us, public servants, to pay for what is not our fault.">

Home help employees demo in Jimena

The main square in Jimena was the scene yesterday afternoon of a demonstration by the local staff of home help concessionaire CLECE (see JP item here), supported by representatives of the UGT union's Federation of Public Services, several carers from Castellar and from Jimena Counciol, headed by Mayor Pascual Collado. The demo is a prior step to an 'indefinite' walkout scheduled for April 25. Speaking to one of the demonstrators, we understand that they are principally concerned about their patients. "We have a long list of do's and dont's, including things like not to go shopping for them, not even to speak to them," she said. (We are waiting to get hold of the list, so watch this space.) They are also protesting about unnecessary redundacies and being asked to a lot more work for the same wages, which they say they are receiving late.

24-hour train strike today

We might not have noticed it at the local level, as the Algceiras-Ronda line is not due to re-open until April 23, but there is a national train strike on right now.  (Yes, in Spain, not only in the UK.) The union puts the compliance figure at between 75 and 80%, while ADIF, the rail managing company, and RENFE, the national railway operator, says it's at 3.5%. The unions complain that the companies 'have not respected the beginning of the strike' because they allowed 'forbidden traffic' of cargo trains. The companies say that the union calling the walkout, CGT (Confederación General de Trabajadores), is in the minority as it only has one representative on the negotiation board. Other unions, such as UGT  (union General de Trabajadores) and CC.OO. (Comisiones Obreras) have not come out on strike. For further information on train schedules: www.renfe.com or on the phone at 902 320 32.