Madrid Strikes Have Widespread Participation
By: Lucia Cobián
Due to the economic crisis in Spain, the government has imposed new reforms as a solution to the economic crisis. These reforms include cuts to many programs, including education. The actions have prompted students and teachers to strike from Tres Cantos and other areas of Madrid, as in many other parts of the country. The last days of strikes in the city center were October 15th through 19th.
Some of the institutions that are taking part in these movements are the student’s union and the teacher’s union. Juan Iribas, high school art teacher, who heads the teacher’s union, is worried about the new educational measures.
“We are concerned about our work conditions but, we understand the importance of an education for everyone, also about the laws that the government makes and how they affect the quality of the educational process,” said Iribas.
Iribas has also said that the Sampedro community has taken part in these strikes during 2011-2012, but the situation hasn’t improved.
“This new academic year, the movement has almost vanished, but some of us feel that the situation is still not acceptable, things are getting even worse, and another strike is needed,” remarked Iribas.
The latter revolutionary days of strikes focused on the government cutbacks in education and healthcare, as Dani and Jisus from the Student’s Union commented: “The government is cutting out the education and healthcare budget. This benefits the privatization of public services. We always hope that the traditional working class organizations participate in the strikes with us.”
In the last revolutionary days, participation in strikes and demonstrations had surged.
“It has been a long time that there hasn’t been such a huge response in the streets. We think that this is because the people are starting to realize what the situation is like and it is going worse and worse. If we don’t do anything, it going to get worse and worse for us,” said Jisus.