2012 Asturian miners' strike

Industrial dispute in Spain September 2017 2012 Asturian miners' strike 2011–2012 Spanish protests 300px Demonstration in support of the strike in Mieres, Asturias in June 2012 29 May – 3 August 2012 Asturias, Spain Opposition to the cutting of subsidies for coal mining Strike action, attacks on police, road blockades, marches See § Return to work At least 88 The 2012 Asturian miners' strike was an industrial dispute involving more than 8,000 coal miners in the Spanish autonomous community of Asturias.http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/21946 8,000 Spanish miners strike against cuts 11 June 2012 14 June 2012 An Phoblacht Mark Moloney The geographer David Featherstone has described the strike as "one of the most dramatic forms of anti-austerity protest to emerge in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis."Featherstone 2015 25 Background thumb|Location of Asturias within Spain The coal mining industry has played a part in the local economy of the provinces of Asturias and León since the Roman era.http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-06/D9VBPFKG2.htm Striking miners in north Spain use violent tactics 12 June 2012 14 June 2012 Bloomberg Businessweek Emilio Morenatti Emilio Morenatti Harold Heckle dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120818175152/http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-06/D9VBPFKG2.htm 18 August 2012 The region also has a history of militancy: an uprising in 1934 led by miners took place but was crushed by General Franco; and a miners' strike which began in Asturias in 1962 involved nearly 500,000 workers and was the first time under Franco that a workers' movement had won significant concessions from the state.Herrero Lemkow 2015 228 Miners also engaged in protests against privatization and industrial restructuring in the 1980s and 1990s.http://www.theweek.co.uk/eurozone/euro-debt-crisis/47376/spain-bailout-rajoy-crows-while-cradle-civil-war-burns Spain bailout: miners of Asturias rise up against austerity 12 June 2012 6 September 2017 The Week Matthew Carr https://web.archive.org/web/20120615164058/http://www.theweek.co.uk/eurozone/euro-debt-crisis/47376/spain-bailout-rajoy-crows-while-cradle-civil-war-burns 15 June 2012 In 2010 the miners were successful in another dispute, which resulted in legislation supporting the coal industry.http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/world-affairs/2012/06/spain-miners%E2%80%99-rebellion-against-austerity?quicktabs_most_read=0 Spain: the miners' rebellion against austerity 20 June 2012 4 September 2017 New Statesman Martin RobertsHerrero Lemkow 2015 219–20 The Spanish coal industry had been in decline since the 1990s as subsidies were phased out, however, resulting in a significant reduction in the number employed by the industry.Herrero Lemkow 2015 218 Between 1990 and 2015 coal extraction in Spain dropped by 76.5 percent and the number of workers employed in the industry declined by 85.7 percent.Herrero Lemkow 2015 219 In order to comply with European Union regulations requiring Spain to reduce its fiscal deficit, and aiming to end state aid for the electric power industry by 2018,Herrero Lemkow 2015 218 in 2012 the Spanish government announced plans to reduce subsidies for 40 mines from €300 million to €110 million.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18444253 Call to end miners' strike in Spain after attacks 14 June 2012 14 June 2012 BBC The subsidies were designed to bolster Spain's energy sector as well as to support programs that would transfer miners to jobs in green infrastructure development.Maxwell Miller 2013 87 The Unión General de Trabajadores, Spain's largest trade union said such a reduction would lead "to the shutdown of coal mining and the abandonment of the mining districts to their fate."http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/06/14/1-hurt-in-spanish-miners-protest/ https://archive.today/20130123105404/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/06/14/1-hurt-in-spanish-miners-protest/ dead 23 January 2013 1 Hurt in Spanish miners' protest 14 June 2012 14 June 2012 Fox News Latino Miners wanted the subsidies to continue until 2018, and argued that Spain's limited energy resources meant it must keep the mines open in order to protect itself against future shocks in the energy market.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/19/spanish-miners-march-madrid-cuts Spanish miners to march on Madrid over subsidy cuts 19 June 2012 19 June 2012 The Guardian Giles Tremlett Dispute Miners began their strike in late May 2012.http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=29042 Madrid puts on a show of solidarity for striking miners 10 July 2012 10 July 2012 Socialist Worker The strike included attacks on police and offices of the ruling People's Party. Miners attacked police with rockets, stones, nuts and bolts, and blocked up to 60 roads a day including 16 main roads and motorways and two railway lines. Miners also occupied a mineshaft and erected barricades made from burning tires. The Civil Guard and riot police used tear gas, baton charges and rubber bullets.http://www.euronews.com/2012/06/12/spain-miner-protest-intensifies/ Spain: Miner protest intensifies 12 June 2012 14 June 2012 Euronews In June 2012, a rail passenger was injured when the train on which he was traveling collided with tree trunks placed on the tracks. On 15 June, clashes were reported by the Ministry of the Interior to have resulted in seven injuries, two of them serious, comprising four police officers and three journalists. The Interior Ministry said the injuries took place when police tried to remove roadblocks of burning tires and came under attack from missiles fired by miners.https://www.foxnews.com/world/7-injured-as-spanish-miners-clash-with-police/ 7 injured as Spanish miners clash with police 15 June 2012 16 June 2012 Fox News On 5 July, a child aged five and a woman were injured by stray missiles during violence between miners using home-made rocket launchers and police using rubber bullets, while miners using rockets caused burns to two policemen on 6 July.https://sg.news.yahoo.com/two-more-hurt-spain-mine-clashes-authorities-170131096.html Two more hurt in Spain mine clashes: authorities 6 July 2012 6 September 2017 Yahoo! News Richard Maxwell and Toby Miller have argued that the miners' tactics were rooted in their knowledge of the area's geography: "The battle lines they drew in this conflict were deeply rooted in knowledge of the roads, valleys, rivers and mountains where the miners took positions to outwit and out-gun, when they could, the better armed paramilitary"Maxwell Miller 2013 88 The strike overlapped with a transport workers' strike in Asturias and León. A general strike was held on 18 June in Asturias, León, Galicia and Aragon. March to Madrid and demonstration In June, a group of miners embarked on a march to Madrid.http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/06/22/spanish-coal-miners-march-to-protest-cuts-in-aid-to-sector/ Spanish coal miners march to protest cuts in aid to sector 22 June 2012 24 June 2012 Fox News https://web.archive.org/web/20160304114140/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/06/22/spanish-coal-miners-march-to-protest-cuts-in-aid-to-sector/ 4 March 2016 dead dmy-all Around 240 miners were involved the 20-day journey,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18782319 Spain's miners march on Madrid over subsidy cuts 11 July 2012 12 July 2012 BBC which converged in the capital on 10 July.https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/spanish-miners-converging-madrid-protests-16745919 Spanish Miners Converging on Madrid for Protests 10 July 2012 6 September 2017 ABC News Daniel Woolls https://web.archive.org/web/20120713034009/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/spanish-miners-converging-madrid-protests-16745919 13 July 2012 As the miners neared the Puerta del Sol, the arrival of supporters swelled their numbers to thousands for a night protest lit by the lights on their hard hats.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9391567/Spanish-miners-stage-night-protest-against-austerity-cuts.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120712071116/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9391567/Spanish-miners-stage-night-protest-against-austerity-cuts.html dead 12 July 2012 Spanish miners stage night protest against austerity cuts 11 July 2012 12 July 2012 The Daily Telegraph On 11 July, miners and trade unionists were met by thousands of supporters, and marched again through the center of Madrid,https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9392581/Spanish-miners-clash-with-riot-police-in-Madrid.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120711233705/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9392581/Spanish-miners-clash-with-riot-police-in-Madrid.html dead 11 July 2012 Spanish miners clash with riot police in Madrid 11 July 2012 12 July 2012 The Daily Telegraph towards the Ministry of Industry.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18792427 Eurozone crisis: Spain announces budget cuts amid protests 11 July 2012 12 July 2012 BBC In addition to the miners who had marched, thousands more traveled on buses from Asturias, León, Aragon and Puertollano.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/11/spanish-coal-miners-protest-madrid Spanish coal miners bring message of defiance to Madrid 11 July 2012 12 July 2012 The Guardian Giles Tremlett The demonstration saw police charges, rubber bullets, and demonstrators throwing fireworks, bottles and stones at police. 76 people were injured and six protesters were hospitalized.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/07/20127126330831737.html Spanish miners dig in for prolonged protest 12 July 2012 12 July 2012 Al Jazeera English Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy spent the morning announcing further austerity measures. Response The government of Asturias condemned the violence but called on the national government to revise its plans to cut subsidies.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18466927 Striking Spanish miners clash with police in Asturias 15 June 2012 16 June 2012 BBC A spokesperson for the regional government said president Javier Fernández Fernández had requested a meeting with industry minister José Manuel Soria. The local branch of the Workers' Commissions denounced the violence, which it said was "the exception and should not be repeated". However the Communist Party of Spain declared its support for the actions.http://www.larepublica.es/2012/07/cronica-de-la-brigada-de-solidaridad-del-pce-de-paterna-al-pozo-candin-langreo/ Crónica de la Brigada de Solidaridad del PCE de Paterna al Pozo Candin (Langreo) 9 July 2012 12 July 2012 laRepublica.es Spanish dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120712101421/http://www.larepublica.es/2012/07/cronica-de-la-brigada-de-solidaridad-del-pce-de-paterna-al-pozo-candin-langreo/ 12 July 2012 In June 2012, 10,000 miners' supporters marched in Madrid, resulting in clashes with police. Miners in Wales have also offered their support to the Spanish strikers. At a solidarity march for men trapped in mines in León, also in June 2012, marchers wore T-shirts reading "S.O.S. Mining in danger of extinction." Supporters also established a protest camp in Oviedo, the capital of Asturias. Also in June 2012, a letter by the Spanish Miners' Solidarity Committee appeared in The Guardian, which complained of "an almost total blackout of news about the response of the workers' movement in Spain to the austerity measures being pursued by the government" and compared the Asturian miners' strike and the authorities' response to the UK miners' strike of 1984–85, concluding that "British miners ... owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Spanish trade unions and particularly the miners for their solidarity and financial support during 1984–85. It is now time to stand with them."Featherstone 2015 12https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/10/time-to-stand-with-spanish-miners Time to stand with Spanish miners 10 June 2012 29 August 2017 The Guardian John Cuningham Carrie Hedderwick Ian Isaac Steve Brunt The Spanish Miners' Solidarity Committee also organized and raised funds in support of the strike in the UK, and arranged for a delegation of miners to speak at the Durham Miners' Gala.Featherstone 2015 25 The footballer David Villa, who grew up in Asturias, also called for solidarity with the miners.Maxwell Miller 2013 87 Return to work The unions told their members to return to work on 3 August 2012, with no compromise having been reached, but said they would soon announce further industrial action. http://www.platts.com/latest-news/coal/Madrid/Spanish-coal-unions-order-return-to-work-after-8594705 Spanish coal unions order return to work after two-month strike Gianluca Baratti 3 August 2012 Platts 7 July 2013 Significance Maxwell and Miller have argued that "The miners’ strike was not merely a local flair up of militant action", but rather "expressed a trans-territorial, multi-generational struggle against European government policies that threaten workers' rights, autonomy and well being."Maxwell Miller 2013 88 They argue that the strike exemplified a problem identified by the cultural theorist Raymond Williams, characterized by the need to respond to environmental despoliation and the social effects of such a response.Maxwell Miller 2013 89 They conclude that "As the Spanish miners understood, the greening of industrial political economies is a strife-ridden, transformational moment that calls on worker participation to move livelihoods and cultural norms toward a society of sustainability."Maxwell Miller 2013 98 Amaranta Herrero and Louis Lemkow have identified the framing of the strike as an anti-austerity struggle, the representation of the cutting of subsidies as an outcome of globalization, and the omission of discussion of technological changes in mining, the history of subsidies and the environmental problems caused by coal mining from the debate as factors in the consolidation of widespread support for the miners.Herrero Lemkow 2015 222–28 They also identify a social imaginary around the idealized figure of the miner as a contributing factor.Herrero Lemkow 2015 228–231 They argue that the debate "was reduced to the social sphere, only a matter of worker solidarity and of opposition to liberalization measures", with the effect that "The necessity of urgently reducing CO2 emissions, and therefore of starting to put an end to perverse subsidies worldwide, was omitted from public debate."Herrero Lemkow 2015 228 See also 2008–2014 Spanish financial crisis Anti-austerity movement in Spain List of protests in the 21st century Notes 30em References David Featherstone Thinking the crisis politically: lineages of resistance to neo-liberalism and the politics of the present conjuncture Space and Polity 19 1 2015 12–30 10.1080/13562576.2014.992253 144706472 Amaranta Herrero Louis Lemkow Environmentally Blind Discourses on Coal Extraction and the Idealization of the Miner in Spain Capitalism Nature Socialism 26 4 2015 215–235 10.1080/10455752.2015.1054849 147501176 Richard Maxwell Toby Miller Cultural Materialism, Media and the Environment Key Words 11 2013 86–102 http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/27208/1/cultural_materialism.pdf External links http://roarmag.org:80/2012/07/miners-asturias-spain-madrid-indignados-austerity/ https://web.archive.org/web/20120719010739/http://roarmag.org/2012/07/miners-asturias-spain-madrid-indignados-austerity/ 'Yo soy minero': the miners light the way of the struggle ROAR Magazine 13 July 2012 19 July 2012 Isaac Rosa Cunning Hired Knaves 26 October 2018 dead dmy-all Category:2012 protests Category:2012 labor disputes and strikes Miners' strike Category:Labour disputes in Spain Category:Miners' labor disputes in Europe