Spanish unions warn employers not to use telework to break the 11 November general strike

Spain’s two largest unions have asked employers not to move staff from the office to remote working during the general strike called for 11 November, a practice they are calling esquirolaje tecnológico, or technological strike-breaking. CCOO and UGT raised it at a press event ahead of the stoppage, which has been called over housing.

The 11 November strike is the first large Spanish stoppage since remote work became widespread, which makes this the first time the unions have had to take a position on it. Lucho Palazzo Gallo of CCOO’s FSC federation conceded that policing the practice is “not easy”, and said the unions would be vigilant while assuming good faith on the part of employers.

Why this matters. If you work remotely for a Spanish employer, you may be asked to work from home on 11 November, and the request will probably not be framed as anything to do with the strike. Spanish law already prohibits esquirolaje, the replacement of striking workers, in its internal and external forms, and the unions are arguing that reassigning work to remote staff falls within the same principle. That argument has not been tested on these facts, so the position is contested rather than settled.

What is clear is that the right to strike and the right not to strike both remain yours. A request to work from home on a strike day is not a neutral scheduling change if its effect is to maintain output that the stoppage was intended to interrupt, and the unions have said they will be watching for it. If you are unsure where you stand, your works council or union representative is the place to ask before the day rather than after it.