May 1998 saw a one-day general strike in Spain's olive-growing districts, in protest at the European Commission's proposals for reform of the sector and the Spanish Government's handling of the negotiations.
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May 1998 saw a one-day general strike in Spain's olive-growing districts, in protest at the European Commission's proposals for reform of the sector and the Spanish Government's handling of the negotiations.
On 14 May 1998, there was a general strike in 305 municipalities of the olive-growing districts of Andalusia, Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha. The strike was called by the UGT and CC.OO trade union confederations and two agrarian organisations - the Confederation of Agrarian Organisations (Confederación de Organizaciones Agrarias, COAG) and the Small Farmers' Union (Unión de Pequeños Agricultores, UPA).
The strike was in protest at the European Commission's proposals for reforming the sector (ES9802141N) and against the way in which the Spanish Government has been handling the negotiations. However, the trade unions that called the strike wished to make clear that it was not their intention to attack the Government but rather to express the interests of the people in these regions.
The organisations that called the strike defend interests that would be affected by a reform that would lower income by ESP 140,000 million a year as a result of smaller grants from the EU, and that would cause hundreds of thousands of hectares to be set aside due to insufficient profitability. For the trade unions, the reform means the loss of several thousand jobs and the return to the insecurity of emigration for seasonal workers. Also, the living conditions of many small farmers would be seriously affected.
The fact that olive oil is so important to the economy of these regions explains the massive support for the strike, not only by workers in the sector and small farmers but also by workers in other sectors, shopkeepers, teachers and many council employees. Some towns were completely empty.
At dusk, Jaén, the olive-growing capital, recorded a demonstration of 60,000 people. The demonstration was led by the Oil Committee (Mesa del Aceite), the joint body created in response to this problem, followed by trade union leaders and left-wing political leaders. The banner that was held by the front-line demonstrators indicated the fundamental objective of the protest: "Strike today to work tomorrow." Indeed, in an employment crisis like the one that is affecting Spain, and above all the southern regions, people are highly sensitive to any measure that may threaten employment.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (1998), General strike in olive-growing regions, article.
