November14th National Strike Day
Today was a national strike called for by the Spanish Labor Unions. As I walked to the library I noticed that there were some people walking down Alcala chanting 'Strike, Strike, Strike' and some other stuff I didn't comprehend. The shops I passed had their door shutters down about half way and the shopkeepers were looking up the street towards the marchers. It turns out that as the marchers passed by they would lower the shutters completely until the marchers were past and then a little later open them. Even though there was a prediction of 300,000 marchers, which is a lot in sheer numbers, it represents only about 8% of Madrid's population so 90% or so were not getting involved or don't support it. Here is a leaflet that they were tossing around and which is also printed on placards. One side says basically, 'Without bread the can be no peace' sort of an updated version of the words for the strike in Paris in the late 18th century just before the revolution. The other side is very interesing in that it has a triple meaning. 'Su Botin es mi Crisis' literally it means 'you boots are my crisis' which didn't make much sense to us. So we asked Norm, and he told us that Sergio Botin is the President of Banco Santander, one of the major Spanish Banks involved in the economic crisis, but Botin also is a slang word for Plunder so it really means 'Your plunder is my crisis' with the indirect reference to Botin. He also said he was having coffee with his wife this morning when the strikers burst in to the coffee shop and were looking to start a fight, calling the customers Scabs, etc. but luckily nothing came of it however they threatened the customers. A union tactic I've seen many times in the past.
Today was a national strike called for by the Spanish Labor Unions. As I walked to the library I noticed that there were some people walking down Alcala chanting 'Strike, Strike, Strike' and some other stuff I didn't comprehend. The shops I passed had their door shutters down about half way and the shopkeepers were looking up the street towards the marchers. It turns out that as the marchers passed by they would lower the shutters completely until the marchers were past and then a little later open them. Even though there was a prediction of 300,000 marchers, which is a lot in sheer numbers, it represents only about 8% of Madrid's population so 90% or so were not getting involved or don't support it. Here is a leaflet that they were tossing around and which is also printed on placards. One side says basically, 'Without bread the can be no peace' sort of an updated version of the words for the strike in Paris in the late 18th century just before the revolution. The other side is very interesing in that it has a triple meaning. 'Su Botin es mi Crisis' literally it means 'you boots are my crisis' which didn't make much sense to us. So we asked Norm, and he told us that Sergio Botin is the President of Banco Santander, one of the major Spanish Banks involved in the economic crisis, but Botin also is a slang word for Plunder so it really means 'Your plunder is my crisis' with the indirect reference to Botin. He also said he was having coffee with his wife this morning when the strikers burst in to the coffee shop and were looking to start a fight, calling the customers Scabs, etc. but luckily nothing came of it however they threatened the customers. A union tactic I've seen many times in the past.
good observer
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