Hundreds of coal miners have arrived
in Madrid today, after having walked between 400 and 500 km from the
different mining regions in Spain (Asturias, León, Aragón and
Puertollano). The determination and militancy of their struggle,
entering now day 43 of an all out strike, have captured the imagination
of wide layers of Spanish workers and youth who will come out today and
tomorrow for a massive demonstration of working class solidarity
Hundreds of coal miners have arrived
in Madrid today, after having walked between 400 and 500 km from the
different mining regions in Spain (Asturias, León, Aragón and
Puertollano). The determination and militancy of their struggle,
entering now day 43 of an all out strike, have captured the imagination
of wide layers of Spanish workers and youth who will come out today and
tomorrow for a massive demonstration of working class solidarity.
Miners’ march to Madrid PIC: Periodismo HumanoSpanish
miners are fighting against the decission of the Spanish right wing
government to cut subsidies to coal mining by 63% this year. This would
mean the destruction of about 8,000 direct jobs and a further 20 or
30,000 indirect jobs which depend on them. For nearly a month and a half
miners have marched, organised a general strike of the mining valleys,
set up barricades blocking highways and railway lines, clashed with the
police and suffered brutal repression at the hands of the anti-riot
units of the Civil Guards (the hated militarised police force).
Hundreds of them have marched for the last few weeks covering the
route from the mining regions towards Madrid, welcomed on their way by
hundreds, thousands of people. Others have spent nearly two months
hundreds of meters underground, locked up in the pits.
Tonight there will be a night time march to the emblematic Puerta del Sol, the site of the indignados
protests for the last year and tomorrow, Wednesday, a massive
demonstration will accompany the miners to the building of the Industry
Ministry.
They are fully aware that this is a life or death struggle. If the
mines are finally closed, whole valleys will be dead from an economic
point of view.
In their clashes with the anti-riot unit of the Civil Guards (the
GSR), the miners have developed their methods and created their own
weaponry. Small groups of miners come down from the hills, quickly build
barricades on main roads, set them on fire and retreat back into the
woods, from where they wait for the Civil Guards to turn up and then
throw flares and pyrotechnic rockets at them with home made rocket
launchers.
Miners have also defended the collieries against attacks from the police, as can be seen in this excellent report by Periodismo Humano of one such battles at Pozo Sotón.
During the strike the violence of the Civil Guards, probably
frustrated at not being able to stop the road blocks, has increased and
has also been used to terrorise whole towns and villages in the mining
areas. In Ciñera, León, the riot police has invaded the town on several
occasions, patrolling the streets, entering into peoples’ homes, firing
rubber bullets and tear gas at the windows of flats, etc.
The Asturian town of Pola de Lena has
also witnessed similar clashes in which a 9 year old girl who was
watching from her flat window was hit by a rubber ball fired by the riot
police.
The militancy of the miners has inspired a largely spontaneous
solidarity movement across the country, with dozens of local branches of
United Left and the Communist Party, as well as trade union branches,
organising buses to go to Madrid to march with the miners tomorrow.
Unfortunately, the trade union leaders have not been up to the task.
They should have organised a national solidarity campaign, with mass
meetings in all workplaces, collections for the miners’ funds leading up
to at least a national day of action on July 11, the day the miners
will march in Madrid.
There is a widespread feeling that the miners are in reality not only
struggling to save their jobs and the future of the mining valleys, but
also standing up for the working class as a whole, a bastion of
resistance against cuts and attacks on workers wages and conditions
being imposed on the back of the capitalist crisis. So far the
government has been provocative in its rejection of the miners’ demands.
The miners have walked all the way to Madrid and are not prepared to go
back empty handed.
The full strength of the Spanish workers and youth must be mobilised
to support their struggle, and that should be linked up with the general
struggle against austerity cuts.
In Britain, a Spanish Miners’ Solidarity Committee has been established. We make an appeal to all trade union and youth activists to get involved in its work.
