Thousands of women took to the streets in our country on March 8. Collapsed traffic, crowded squares, endless demonstrations, picketers in several stores and companies… these are some of the images of this day of struggle and reivindication. This year was clearly marked by an intersectoral and class discourse, thus recovering the origins of this date.
In Corunha according to CIG [the main national union] the impact of the strike was important in different sectors. Some of the home help workers joined the strike, and stores like Oysho closed its doors at Marineda City [the most important local mall]. The support was uneven in the Inditex group stores, but it should be noted that the dining room at Zara Logística couldn’t provide service as the strike was almost universally observed. Some picket lines were escorted by riot police officers from the Spanish National Police, who asked the women not to coerce and not to cause damage to shop windows.
As in the rest of the country in the Marinha region there were preparatory assemblies for the 8M [March 8] with a high participation, especially at Valadouro, where women from all ages activelly participated. On March 8 there were rallies in Viveiro, Foz, Ribadeu, Jove and Burela, a town where there were also workshops and coexistence activities.
For the first time, feminism in Marinha publicly acknowledged the need of a process of collective reflection to include anti-racism and racialized comrades in their discourse. A large group of Cape Verdean women participated in the rally.
In the nation’s capital, Compostela, the strike was observed in stores like Oysho and Desigual, which were closed all day. Also, an according to CIG, the strike was supported by more than 60% of the Inditex group workers in As Cancelas Shopping Center .
The picketers started their activity at ten o’clock in the morning crossing the Ensanche area, while at the same time another picket line left from As Cancelas Shopping Center.
Hundreds of women, called by Galegas 8M, met at different roundabouts in the city around half past eleven in the morning and then marched towards the Galiza Square. There all the women who had come from different points of the city (Campus Sul, A Galuresa, Sam Caetano and Concheiros) gathered with the thousands who were already there. This originated a great traffic jam that lasted for hours, since several groups of women stayed for lunch, sitting on the road in Galiza Square, Senra Street, Juan Carlos I Avenue and Faxeira Gate.
There were also picketers in the Ensanche area during the afternoon.
At the end of the day, a demonstration of dozens of thousands of people crowded the city.
In Lugo, the CIG picket lines started early in the morning at the city centre in order to close food and clothes stores. It should be highlighted that Lefties (a brand of the Inditex group) closed because the total of its employees observed the strike, as well as a good part of the staff of the telemarketing company Abante. This is one of the largest employers in the city and women represent 80% of its staff. The strike was also noted in courts, where several trials had to be suspended because many judges seconded the strike.
At 12:30 in the afternoon there was a large demonstration called by CIG.
At the end of the day thousands of women (10,000 according to some prosystem newspapers) took to the streets and participated in the demonstration called by Galegas 8M, which was lead off by the batukada lucense and by women who carried torches.