Metalworkers' Strike to Protest in Vigo

CIG kept a strike on Tuesday, May 19, across Pontevedra’s metal sector after rejecting a pre-agreement that CC.OO. and UGT signed with employers on May 15. The dispute overlaps with Navalia, the shipbuilding trade fair running from May 19 to 21 at Vigo’s IFEVI exhibition center. CIG had previously warned that protests could move to the fair if employers offered only “crumbs” in bargaining. By Monday, the union said it would maintain the stoppage for May 19 while suspending the planned strike days of May 20 and 21. ### Why is there still a strike if other unions signed a deal? The May 15 pre-agreement was backed by CC.OO. and UGT but not by CIG, leaving the sector split over whether the dispute had been settled. Europa Press reported that the draft accord covers four years and includes a cumulative 15% wage increase: 5% in 2026, 4% in 2027, 3% in 2028 and 3% in 2029, with an inflation-linked safeguard clause capped at 2.5% in 2027, 2028 and 2029. (europapress.es) It also includes changes on pay differentials for first-class skilled workers, one additional vacation day, and a reduction in annual working time to 1,752 hours in 2027. CIG said that package did not meet the demands that had driven the strike call. On its website and in comments carried by Europa Press, the union said the agreement “betrays” what workers defended during the stoppages and argued that “there was force to win much more.” The union had said throughout the dispute that the fight was about more than wages, citing demands on continuous shifts, subcontracting, heat stress and broader working conditions. (europapress.es) ### How big is the dispute in Pontevedra’s metal industry? The strike affects one of the province’s largest industrial bargaining units. La Voz de Galicia reported on May 5 that the stoppages covered about 3,500 companies and 33,000 workers in the sector. Earlier coverage said the metal agreement is one of the most important labor pacts in Pontevedra and that unions had threatened to expand the strike after talks with employers Asime, Atra and Instalectra failed to produce a deal. (europapress.es) The employers’ side in the talks is made up of Asime, Atra and Instalectra. Those organizations were identified in the bargaining process both in press coverage of the 2026 negotiations and in official labor documentation tied to the Pontevedra metal agreement. (lavozdegalicia.es) ### What had unions been demanding before the split? On May 5, the three unions said they were prepared to strike on May 19, 20 and 21 if no agreement was reached before Navalia opened. Xulio Fernández of CIG said employers had not negotiated “in very good faith” over more than 10 meetings, while union representatives said repeatedly that “it is more than wages” and called for “decent conditions.” Their demands included regulation of continuous workdays, measures on heat stress in factories and terms that would make the sector more attractive to younger workers. (lavozdegalicia.es) On May 14, after another march in Vigo, CIG’s Fernández said unions would not settle for “migajas,” or crumbs, in the next meeting with employers. He listed “decent wages, subrogation, continuous workday, measures against heat stress” among the issues still on the table and said workers already knew “where we have to be on the 19th,” referring to Navalia at IFEVI. (europapress.es) Europa Press said more than 2,000 people joined that demonstration in Vigo. ### What does Navalia have to do with the labor dispute? Navalia is not part of the bargaining, but its timing made it a pressure point. The fair is scheduled for May 19-21 at IFEVI in Vigo, according to the event’s official and venue pages. Because Navalia gathers shipbuilding and maritime industry companies in a city central to Galicia’s metal sector, unions had flagged it as a potential site for escalation if talks with employers failed. (europapress.es) By Monday, CIG said it would not go to Navalia’s opening and would instead mobilize in Vigo while keeping the May 19 strike. That decision narrowed the action from the original three-day plan tied to the fair, but it preserved a visible protest in the city on the first day of Navalia. La Voz de Galicia reported that only the May 19 strike day would be maintained by CIG and that the stoppages planned for May 20 and 21 were suspended. (navalia.es) ### What happens next in the dispute? The next formal step is ratification of the May 15 pre-agreement by the assemblies of CC.OO. and UGT, Europa Press reported. CIG’s stance means labor unrest may not be fully over even if those unions approve the text, because the union has continued to argue that the deal falls short of what workers demanded in the streets. (lavozdegalicia.es) Navalia continues in Vigo through May 21 at IFEVI, while the labor agreement’s next milestone is the union assembly process for the pre-agreement signed by CC.OO., UGT and employers Asime, Atra and Instalectra. (ifevi.com) (europapress.es)