Spain's unions hold general strike against Rajoy's labour reform

On 29 March 2012, Spain's two largest union confederations, CCOO and UGT, called a general strike against the labour reform approved by Mariano Rajoy's government. It was the first general strike of his term, called only a few months after his People's Party (PP, the conservatives) won an absolute majority in the November 2011 election.

The reform, approved by decree in February 2012, made it cheaper and easier for companies to dismiss workers, reduced severance pay for unfair dismissal and gave firms more room to change working conditions or opt out of sector-wide collective agreements. The government argued that it would make the labour market more flexible and help fight unemployment, which was above 20 per cent during Spain's economic crisis.

Unions said the changes weakened workers' rights and collective bargaining without creating jobs. The strike disrupted transport and industry, and there were protests in many cities, including incidents of public disorder in Barcelona. Governments and unions gave very different turnout figures. The reform stayed in force and the strike became an early test of Rajoy's austerity-era agenda.