General strikes against austerity in the Great Crisis

The general strike stands out as a form of labour unrest because of its openly visible class dimension. It calls the entire labour force across a society to stop work. By definition, stoppages only count as general strikes if they are based on cross- sectional, inclusive solidarity. Sometimes this is done exclusively for political aims, for example when people protest against an authoritarian government. But often, general strikes are organic strikes: They articulate economic and political demands and formulate a general, class- based agenda. In so doing, they usually concern the organization of work across the whole of society and create a divide between workers on one side and capital and the government on the other. Consequently, they are of particular interest when one examines working- class formation.

The Spanish state is a useful test case for examining the demands, constituencies and dynamics of general strikes. Since la Transición, there have been ten union- led, national, general strikes (1985, 1988, 1992, 1994, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2012 [March] and 2012 [November]); two general national strikes with mass participation led by feminist organizations (2018 and 2019); and a number of regional mobilizations. In what follows, I will focus on the two most recent cycles of struggle and explore their connection: the cycle spanning the beginning of the Great Crisis and the sovereign debt crisis from 2008 until 2014, which includes three general strikes against austerity, and the subsequent cycle encompassing the two feminist general strikes against violence against women, the precarity of women workers, the disregard for care work and the effects of austerity on the social infrastructure. I will discuss what accounts for how the terrains have changed on which these strikes have taken place, and to what extent they have contributed to class formation.

In the context of my overall line of argument, one may object that general strikes are not purely non-industrial strikes because by definition, manufacturing workers are also participating in them. But importantly, they always also mobilize workers from non-industrial branches of the economy, and their constituencies extend beyond the confines of the workplace. And in many cases, general strikes are accompanied by demonstrations, which can be joined by non-waged people – and by people whose work hours do not overlap with the timing of the strike.