2016 ITUC Global Rights Index - Spain

Supreme Court acquitted Airbus 8 workers from criminal charges: The eight trade unionists, members of the industrial branch of the national centre Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO. de Industria) and the Metalworkers and Construction Industry branch of the Unión General de Trabajadores (MCA-UGT), faced a trial with the accusations of "acting with violence" and "attacking the right to work" during a general strike on 29 September 2010. The proposed and disproportionate punishment was of eight years and three months of imprisonment for having allegedly picketed in Getafe, Madrid. The eight workers, namely Tomás García, Enrique Gil, Rodolfo Malo, José Alcázar, Raúl Fernández, Armando Barco, Jerónimo Martín and Edgar Martín, were charged under article 315.3 of the Spanish Penal Code, a provision dating back to the Franco regime, stipulating prison sentences for engaging in picketing.

After vehement solidarity protests by Spanish trade unions and the international labour movement, the eight Airbus workers were acquitted for "lack of evidence" on 18 February 2016.

This positive ruling arrives after a season of harsh repression of trade union activities: among others five workers of the steel company ArcelorMittal, affiliated to MCA-UGT, were condemned to 31 years of detention in total for the trade-union activities carried out during a general strike in 2012.

Ryanair sues its Spanish staff for strike action: Workers of Ryanair's baggage handling service at Madrid Airport went on strike against pay cuts and working conditions, interrupting the service for a few days.

At the beginning several unions took part in industrial action, namely CTA, UGT, CCCO and CGT. CTA was the only one that continued with the action because it could not reach an agreement with the enterprise. In response to such protracted industrial action, Ryanair sued its striking workers because, according to a spokeswoman for the company, "the unions failed to provide the legally required minimum service levels". The company is well known all over Europe for its anti-union policies and has had several convictions from various European Labour Courts, including France and Denmark.

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) oppose media restrictions in Spanish Public Security Law: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its regional organisation, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), joined their Spanish affiliates FAPE, FESP, FSC-CC.OO. and ELA-Gizalan in criticising the Public Security Law, also known as "Ley Mordaza" (gag law), which came into force on 1 July 2015. The law makes "any unauthorised use of images or personal as well as professional data concerning police officers which may put at risk the safety of the officers or their families" a criminal offence arbitrarily limiting the people's right to assemble and exposing photojournalists to prosecution for taking pictures featuring law enforcement agents at public events. Journalists' organisations in Spain denounced the motives for the new law, including the government's effort to ban protests against budgets cuts. The approved text will affect mainly regional media and community media, thus severely undermining media diversity and pluralism in Spain.