Spanish Postal Workers Stage One-Day Strike

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MADRID – Spain’s postal workers staged a one-day strike Thursday to protest the elimination of 7,000 jobs at the country’s largest public enterprise.

Unions said 75 percent of the 64,000 Correos employees heeded the strike call, but management put participation in the walkout at just over 25 percent.

The job action was accompanied by protests in more than 50 towns and cities.

At the end of the demonstration in Madrid, which organizers said drew some 5,000 people, union leaders asked to be consulted on the government’s draft legislation for reforming the postal system to bring it into line with European Union policy directives mandating more competition.

An official with the CCOO labor federation said the government’s “irresponsibility” in not making provisions to maintain deliveries during the strike “shows again the relevance the administration gives the public postal service.”

The government has reduced investment in Correos, according to the CCOO’s Regino Martin, who referred to “a secret plan to cut another 18,000 jobs.” EFE