Metalworkers, Police Conflict in Spain

Protesters, left, march throughout a strike organized by metallic staff in Cadiz, southern Spain, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021.

AP Photograph/Javier Fergo

MADRID (AP) — Metalworkers and police clashed Tuesday in Spain’s southern metropolis of Cádiz on the finish of a protest march to demand increased wages in line with the nation’s surging inflation charge.

Police used rubber bullets to disperse protesters who tried to erect barricades throughout streets within the coastal metropolis.

The demonstration marked the eighth straight day of protests and coincided with a strike affecting the entire province of Cádiz in help of the metalworkers’ combat.

The inflation charge in Spain has risen to its highest in years, pushed up by power prices. In October, it stood at 5.5%. That has infuriated many individuals whose wages have stagnated. A whole bunch of jobs have additionally been misplaced within the province of Cádiz, which has an unemployment charge of 23%, certainly one of Spain’s highest.

Commerce unions representing the metalworkers and employers have been negotiating for days with out reaching an settlement, although they’ve stated that talks will proceed.

José Muñoz, secretary-general of metalworkers’ affiliation FEMCA, informed native public broadcaster Canal Sur that employers are providing a rise of two%, negotiable annually. He stated unions don’t settle for that.

Staff have been slicing off roads and bridges main into Cádiz over the previous week. They’ve additionally set alight some vehicles and barricades. There have been no accidents or important injury. The final tone of the protests is peaceable.

Most of the employment within the province’s metallic sector is in shipbuilding. Cádiz, a metropolis of 116,000 situated on the coast close to the Strait of Gibraltar, is a blue-collar metropolis the place commerce unions have deep roots.

There are 700 firms within the metalworking sector within the province of Cádiz, using round 20,000 folks.