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SearchThe employers’ organizations consider that the strike called by CCOO and UGT is not labor-related in nature and criticize it for shifting costs onto businesses. The unions link access to housing with wages; the strike has no date yet and no formal advance notice has been filed.
CEOE and Cepyme have called the general housing strike announced by CCOO and UGT for this autumn “unacceptable.” The employers’ organizations question whether the demands are labor-related in nature and maintain that legislative and budgetary measures concerning housing fall primarily within the remit of public administrations, not business management.
The protest, for which no date has yet been set, is framed around the right to housing and the need for sufficient wages to pay for it. The unions argue that wages are not enough to meet housing costs and inflation, and they also call on employers’ organizations to account for their role in collective bargaining.
CEOE President Antonio Garamendi said in remarks to Onda Cero that, in his view, the call has a “clear political and electoral component” and might lack a legal basis. He maintained that a strike must arise from a labor dispute and questioned whether the housing situation could be considered such a dispute. He also rejected holding businesses responsible for the lack of housing or its rising cost.
However, CEOE and Cepyme acknowledge that the information available does not allow for a definitive legal assessment. The call is pending ratification, has no date, and does not yet constitute the formal advance notice required by law. The employers’ organizations say they will analyze its aims, scope, and requirements once these are specified, and will then decide what actions they consider appropriate. Their objections therefore express the employers’ position and do not amount to a ruling on the strike’s legality.
The employers’ organizations also question the timing of the mobilization, announced after the call for elections on November 29. In their statement, they argue that the activities of businesses and workers should not be used as a means of exerting pressure during an electoral process. Garamendi also described the call as unusual and urged the social partners to preserve dialogue and stability.
In contrast, CCOO and UGT present housing as an issue affecting workers’ living conditions and link the problem to wages and collective bargaining agreements. According to published information, the Ministry of Labour expressed respect for the right to strike and considered housing an essential issue for workers.
The legal debate centers on whether the reasons for the protest are sufficiently connected to the professional interests of those who would take part. The regulations cited in news reports provide that a strike promoted for political reasons or for purposes unrelated to those interests is illegal; determining how this criterion applies requires examining the specific call and its circumstances. Until it is formalized, there is no definitive legal conclusion in this case.
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