Big crowd protest labor law reforms in Madrid

MADRID - Agence France-Presse

Members of the union Comisiones Obreras hold a banner during a protest against labor reform by the Spanish government in Malaga, southern Spain, yesterday. REUTERS photo

Tens of thousands of people jammed the streets of Madrid yesterdal to protest against sweeping labor market reforms that make it easier to slash pay and lay off workers.

Spain’s two biggest unions, the CCOO and UGT, planned protests in a total of 57 cities, including Barcelona and Seville, yesterday against the reforms which Spain’s new conservative government argues are needed to revive the economy and slash an unemployment rate of 22.85 percent.

In the Spanish capital the protesters marched under a sunny sky behind a large banner that read “no to the unfair, inefficient and useless reform”.

“We have to take action. They start like this and then they will continue to eliminate rights,” said 44-year-old unemployed construction worker Victor Orgando, who wore a black hat decorated with a red CCOO union sticker.

The crowd chanted “strike! strike! strike!” as it made its way from Neptune Square near the Parado Musuem to the central Sol Square.