The general strike culminates the escalation of labor conflict: almost double the number of stoppages in eight months than in all of 2025
Official statistics record 1.37 million days lost up to August, compared to 383,000 in the same period last year. The unions link this to the absence of a national agreement on collective bargaining.
Spanish unions have called for a nationwide strike on November 11, the first such action supported by major unions in 14 years. However, this day of protest is not the first for many workers this year who have been on strike in opposition to their employers. According to the Ministry of Labor, in the first eight months of 2026, there were 1.37 million workdays lost to strikes involving 579,000 workers affiliated with the Social Security system.
In all of 2025, there were only 382,700 workdays lost and 167,300 participants, a significant decrease. In fact, even four months into 2026, the number of workdays lost this year has already nearly doubled that of the entire previous year. Unions attribute this increase in conflict to specific issues such as early childhood education and healthcare, but also identify a broader cause: without a national agreement on collective bargaining contracts due to expire by the end of 2025, conflict is escalating.
Written by urgent.news from El Pais's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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