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Spanish unions claim huge following for post office strike

Xinhua, May 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Unions are claiming that over 80 percent of workers at the Spanish post office (Correos) heeded the call to hold a 24-hour strike on Friday, an action which would have an effect on Sunday's local and regional elections.

The strike has been called to protest against the breakdown of negotiations over the new collective agreement over pay and conditions and the loss of 15,000 jobs in the post office over the past five years.

Friday's action coincides with the last day of the election campaign and one of its effects could be to complicate the transmit of the thousands of postal votes which have been cast throughout the country.

Voters unable to return to their home towns to vote were allowed to cast a postal vote until Thursday and as a result many of those votes have not yet arrived at their destinations.

Indeed on Thursday the union, Comissiones Obreras (CC.OO) had highlighted the accumulation of postal votes which still had not been delivered and which according to the union were unlikely to arrive in time to be counted.

"There are thousands of items of electoral propaganda, certificates, notifications, packets and letters which will need over a week to deliver, while there are long queues in the majority of offices," commented the union.

This statement was denied by management at Correos which said that although there was a "peak" in the quantity of work, it was "normal" for this time. Endit