The international workers' day has called for a new march to the center of Girona this Friday. The demonstration, organized by CCOO and UGT, has gathered around **half a thousand people** according to the local council. The procession departed from the **Plaça de la Independència** and walked along Jaume I street until reaching the Plaça del Vi, where the final speeches were delivered under the slogan Against wars and fascism, more rights and more unionism.
Demand for labor and housing improvements
The unions have put forward a clear roadmap focused on strengthening collective bargaining, recovering lost purchasing power, and reducing working hours. The general secretary of CCOO in Girona, Diana Estudillo, has set the political tone of the event with a forceful speech on the current labor market.
"We say no to wars or imperialist adventures" - Diana Estudillo, general secretary of CCOO in Girona
Estudillo has conveyed to the public the need to protect employment and maintain economic stability in the face of global instability. He has directly linked the rising cost of food, energy, and transportation to international conflicts. He has also insisted on the urgency of regularizing access to housing to prevent families from dedicating more than a third of their income to rent.
The general secretary of UGT in the Girona regions, Maxi Rica, has agreed in pointing out the structural precariousness of employment. He has warned that having a job no longer ensures a dignified existence and has asked that new technologies benefit all citizens and not just a few shareholders.
"If there are benefits, there must also be a distribution" - Maxi Rica, general secretary of UGT in the Girona regions
Rica has also defended that absenteeism should be understood solely as unjustified absence from the workplace. She has branded any other form of labor absenteeism derived from unsustainable conditions as a legitimate exercise of rights.
Open conflict and affected sectors
The concentration has served to make visible salary and organizational disputes in several industrial estates. Workers from Nestlé and the company Domo in Blanes have come with banners to denounce their respective contractual situations. The case of the employment regulation file in the food multinational has been mentioned as a benchmark for possible technological delocalizations.
Núria Paradeda, Secretary General of Health, has denounced the chronic underfunding of the public system. She has assured that the healthcare deficiencies accumulate year after year and compromise the quality of care. For his part, José Macías, a freight driver, has demanded compensation for his long working hours with early retirement at sixty years of age.
Dani Guerrero, from UGT, has recalled that the cost of living continues to skyrocket while salary scales remain stagnant. Susana Cano, from the commercial sector, has admitted the difficulty in mobilizing citizens and has asked for greater transparency about union functions to eliminate prejudices.
Parallel concentration in Central Park
At noon, a group of political and union organizations held a different event in **Central Park**. CGT, IAC, and COS took advantage of the event to launch a manifesto critical of the socioeconomic situation. From the anarchist platform, they have warned of the progressive worsening of the living conditions of the working class while companies register historic profit highs.
IAC has claimed a vital minimum wage that guarantees adequate pensions and allows for basic needs to be met. COS has advocated for greater collective organization in order to achieve fewer working hours and more free time for the population.
The May 1st mobilizations in Girona confirm that social discontent persists and seeks channels of institutional pressure. Union and neighborhood actors will continue to monitor the evolution of agreements and the response of administrations to the demands presented during the day.