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Urgent solidarity appeal for sacked SEAT workers in Catalonia

Wednesday 25 January 2006

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Seat/Volkswagen Group announced the dismissal of
about 800 Seat workers in Catalonia, one day before
Christmas. All this happened with the approval of the unions - the Workers Commissions (CCOO formerly link to the Spanish Communist Party) and the UGT (General Workers Union - formerly linked to the spanish Socialist Party) and
the strong opposition of the union CGT (coming from an
anarcho-syndicalist tradition).

The negotiated agreement of the leadership of the unions CCOO and UGT with the Seat/Volkswagen Group to dismmiss the 660 is called "Pact of shame" by the left section of the unions and the workers.

Among the 660 dismissed workers they are 20.5% women,
which is a lot for a car factory where only about 5%
women work amd amongst the sacked are pregnant women
as well as a lot of workers who have been working for
decades in the car plant.

In the last weeks they have been numberous marches in solidarity with the sacked workers in Catalonia and the rest of the Spanish State, for example in Martorell, Barcelona, València, Murcia, Navarra, and other places.

Three days ago the ’United committee in solidarity
with the sacked Seat workers’ was founded in
Barcelona. Supporters of this committee were delegates
from the sacked Seat workers, different networks,
movements, unions, socialist and republican parties and neighbourhood and local support groups.

The committee planned a lot of actions and marches for the next two weeks, but they know they may have months ahead to struggle.

The sacked workers urgently request solidarity with
their demands, which is immediate re-employment of all
660 sacked. Representatives from the union CGT speak of
a so called "black list", because among the sacked are
a huge number of long term organizers of working-class struggles.

One sacked worker, who had been working 36 years for
the car factory said that this was the worst Christmans he
ever had, after one in 1971 when he was arrested and
tortured for building the then under fascist dictator
Franco, when the Workers Commissions were illegal in the Seat factory.

Another sacked worker, a shop-steward and CGT member
aged 57, fought as well against Franco’s fascism in the
1970s and is a life-long union activist. All these
comrades deserve our solidarity.

Please send union or social movements solidarity messages addressed to Josep-MariaAntentas:

josepmaria.antentas@uab.es

revoltaglobal@revoltaglobal.net

For further information:

www.kaosenlared.net(in Spanish and Catalan)

www.revoltaglobal.net (in Catalan mainly)