Mass demonstrations and uneven follow-up to the strike for a public healthcare system

The feminist general strike for healthcare called by Hego Euskal Herria has had an uneven impact on the labor market depending on the sectors, but has brought together thousands of people in massive demonstrations, especially those in the afternoon in the capitals.

The strike has been declared in Euskadi and Navarra by the Feminist movement of Euskal Herria and the trade union majority (ELA, LAB, ESK, Steilas, EHNE, Etxalde and CGT), and has received the political support of EH Bilduwho did not participate today in the institutional plenary meetings, We can and add.

Unemployment has increased in magnitude follow up in public services, especially in education (37% according to the Basque government and 70% for the organizers), but a lower percentage in private companies, both in industry and in the service sector, commerce and catering, with the exception of some regions of Gipuzkoa and the east of Bizkaia.

According to data from the Government of Navarre, 12.14% of the staff of the Foral Administration and 2.57% of the Navarrese Health Service – Osasunbidea supported the feminist strike in Navarre.

In this context, the trade unions ELA and LAB have indicated that in Navarra the greatest monitoring took place in the schools of model D. In the case of the subsidized schools, the monitoring was greater than 90%.

In Navarre, they have reported, the follow-up to the strike in the industrial sector has been uneven, with a greater incidence among companies in the Pamplona industrial belt, with pickets in the Arazuri Orkoien industrial estate and in the city of Innovation .

Moreover, the strike has had a significant following in feminized sectors such as cleaning and school canteens.

As part of this day of the feminist strike, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Navarra Palace to demand dignity for the healthcare sector and the conditions of its workers.

There were some incidents that day, which resulted in two members of a picket held in Vitoria-Gasteiz and five women and a minor arrested for chaining themselves to the headquarters of the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council, all of which are now free, according to organizers, in addition to many identifications.

The morning demonstrations brought together thousands of people in Donostia-San Sebastián and Bilbao, and those in the afternoon were also massive in the capitals, especially in Bilbao, which 25,000 peopleaccording to the municipal police.

In Bilbao and under heavy rain, the demonstrators marched from the Sacred Heart along Gran Vía in Basque behind a banner with the slogan ‘Public healthcare system now’, which they also chanted during the march, as well as others such as ‘No to healthcare matters’, ‘Public yes, privatizations no’, ‘Gora borroka feminist’ and ‘Borroka feminist, anti-racist, anti-fascist, anti-capitalist’.

In PamplonaUnder the rain and led by a banner with the motto ‘Zaintza systemic publikoa orain’ (now public healthcare system), the demonstration started from Antoniutti Park in Pamplona and went to the city center, ending in the Plaza del Castle.

The demonstrators have chanted slogans such as ‘Gora borroka feminist’ and ‘Down with vulture care funds’.

Amaia Zubietaspokesperson for the feminist group, told the media that today “has been a very important day, it is a historic day because there is no precedent for a general feminist strike.

In Vitoria-GasteizAlso in the afternoon, more than 2,000 people took part in the demonstration that started at a quarter past six from the Plaza de San Antón, animated by a batucada with the same banner as in the other capitals, and traveled through the center under the rain until it ended at the Virgin Blanca.

In Donostia-San SebastianSeveral thousand people marched in the rain and during the journey they heard feminist slogans and slogans such as ‘Mikel dear, you change the child’, ‘If we stop caring, you will shit’ and ‘Prisoner regime, slavery modern’ , among other things.

After the marches, organizers urged institutions tointersectoral table to urgently address the issue of care.” The spokesperson for the feminist movement of Euskal Herria Naia Torrealdai In statements to journalists in Bilbao, he described the day as a “historic day” and pointed out that the problem of healthcare “is an economic, political and cultural conflict.”