The strike began with a push from Del Río’s organization, the Tenants’ Union, the group that supported Maricarmen during her eviction. Public anger over what happened to the Madrid woman ran so high that the government responded by approving decrees with housing measures, which were later rejected by the right-wing majority in Congress. That vote on Friday, October 2, led to mass demonstrations the next day, Saturday, October 3, led by the Tenants’ Union under the main slogan “toward a general strike.”
Archiv: (wertlose oder tatsächliche) Gewerkschaften / (worthless or actual) labor unions
Wenige Wochen vor Neuwahl: Generalstreik in Spanien für bezahlbares Wohnen
Es ist der erste große Generalstreik seit 2012. Die Wohnungskrise ist seit Jahren eines der drängendsten sozialen Probleme in Spanien. Die Gewerkschaften fordern unter anderem den Bau von 1,5 Millionen Sozialwohnungen in den kommenden Jahren und ein Verbot der Zwangsräumung schutzbedürftiger Mieter.
Im September hatte die Zwangsräumung der Wohnung der 87-jährigen Maricarmen Abascal, die seit mehr als sieben Jahrzehnten in ihrer Madrider Wohnung gelebt hatte, die Debatte um bezahlbare Mieten neu entfacht. Ein Streit um von der Regierung vorgeschlagene Maßnahmen für mehr Mieterschutz führte letztlich dazu, dass Regierungschef Pedro Sánchez Neuwahlen für den 29. November ausrief.
600,000-Member Machinists Union Calls on Schumer To Allow ‘A New Generation To Lead’ Democrats
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s bid to continue leading the Democratic Party when it takes control of the US Senate in January continued to falter Monday night as a key machinists’ union asked the New York senator to step aside and allow “a new generation to lead Senate Democrats.”
In a letter, Brian Bryant, international president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union) thanked Schumer for “many years of leadership, friendship, and unwavering commitment to working people” before telling him that “after thoughtful discussions,” the IAM Union Executive Council had opted not to support Schumer’s push to remain as the Senate leader.
Mamdani privately meets with powerful lefty unions about 2028 — as he makes striking AOC admission
Williams, Nelson and Fain are considered among the most progressive labor leaders in the country.
Mamdani has amassed substantial political capital after his stunning upset over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year, which thrust him and his controversial leftist agenda onto the national stage.
He is now widely viewed as the “kingmaker” for the progressive branch of the Democratic party and has already shown a willingness to wield that power.
Paris Protest LIVE: Workers And Students Rally Against Rising Prices & Declining Public Services
The November 7 demonstration comes amid a wider wave of protests across France, with workers, students and unions demanding action over wages, purchasing power and public services.
In Paris, the main union-backed march is scheduled to move from Place de la République to Place de la Nation along Boulevard Voltaire. A separate Yellow Vests gathering has also been called at Place de la Concorde, despite being banned by authorities.
The demonstrations come just days after a major nationwide strike on November 5, highlighting continuing public anger over living costs and government spending priorities.
Demonstrationen am 7. November in Paris: Streckenverlauf, geschlossene Stationen – was uns erwartet
Die Demonstration am Samstag, dem 7. November 2026, in Paris spielt sich an zwei Orten ab. Zum einen startet der Zug des Gewerkschaftsbündnisses um 14 Uhr an der Place de la République und zieht zur Place de la Nation, durch das 3., 10., 11. und 12. Arrondissement, auf einer Route, die an diesem Freitag von der Polizeipräfektur genehmigt wurde. Zum anderen ruft die Koordination der Gelbwesten zur selben Uhrzeit auf die Place de la Concorde im 8. Arrondissement; diese Versammlung wurde jedoch von der Präfektur verboten.
Diese beiden Aufrufe stammen nicht von denselben Organisatoren, haben aber eine gemeinsame Forderung: die hohen Lebenshaltungskosten. Sie kommen zwei Tage nach dem branchenübergreifenden Streik vom Donnerstag, dem 5. November, dem am stärksten besuchten Streik des Herbstes.
Live: Calm prevails as new mass cost-of-living demonstrations take off across France
French unions and student groups took to the streets for another day of protests on Saturday, while the Yellow Vests movement planned a separate rally in central Paris despite a ban by authorities. The demonstrations follow weeks of youth-led unrest and nationwide strikes that drew hundreds of thousands of workers protesting over the rising cost of living. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
Hunderttausende bei Generalstreik in Frankreich auf der Straße
(November 5, 2026)
Michael Strempel, ARD Paris, tagesschau, Das Erste, 05.11.2026 • 20:00 Uhr
Interior ministry says 575,000 protest across France as unions claim ‚close to 1.6 million‘
(November 5, 2026)
Nearly 1.6 million people joined protests across France on Thursday, according to the hard-left labour union, while the interior ministry put turnout at around 600,000. Protesters demanded higher wages and backed the high school protest movement, putting renewed pressure on the beleaguered government. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is set to meet with trade unions on Monday.
Prop 40, the Billionaire Tax Act, Explained | SEIU-UHW
Our solution: Prop 40, The California Billionaire Tax Act
We’re calling on California’s billionaires to step up and pay a one-time, emergency 5% tax to prevent the collapse of California healthcare and help fund California public K-14 education and state food assistance programs. This would protect healthcare jobs and ensure working people and families can get the care they need. The tax would be paid only by Californians worth more than $1 billion — which is a bit over 200 people who hold a combined wealth of $2 trillion.
California could become the first state to tax billionaires’ wealth
The “no” side has raised roughly 10 times as much as the “yes” side, thanks in large part to tech moguls and venture capitalists, who have poured millions into a political action committee fighting the measure. Billionaires are already bracing for its approval. Some of them, including Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, started cutting ties with the state after the measure was unveiled. Mark Zuckerberg said he would stay in California for eight years and made a deal with Meta that would help him pay the tax without losing his ownership stake in the company.
Generalstreik am 5. November 2026: Verkehr, Schulen – eine große Mobilisierung wird erwartet
Aktualisiert am 21. Oktober 2026 um 16:11
Der Streik am 5. November 2026 gewinnt an Tragweite: Nach einer in Matignon als ergebnislos bewerteten Sitzung ruft die CGT zu einem Generalstreik auf, dem die CFDT und die Snes-FSU folgen. Verkehr, Schulen, Demonstration in Paris: Wir ziehen Bilanz.
Mass demonstrations across Italy bring disparate protest movements together
Large crowds took to the streets across Italy on Friday, October 30, in response to a call from the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), a grassroots trade union that had organized a general strike in the public sector. Although many civil servants did not walk out and public transportation was only minimally disrupted, the streets and squares of major cities were packed with demonstrators, reflecting a rising tide of social discontent nationwide.
USB estimates at least one million workers in the streets for the strike
Student collective says two million
Video. Italy: Thousands protest rising living costs and defence spending in general strike
Updated: 30 October 2026 – 14:26 GMT+1
Thousands of protesters marched through Rome, Italy, on Friday, 30 October, during a general strike called by the left-wing Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) trade union.
Une mobilisation importante mais en légère baisse, au moins trois blessés graves, près de 1 000 interpellations… Ce qu‘il faut retenir de ce samedi de manifestation
Alors que de nombreux rassemblements avaient été interdits par les préfectures, 410 000 personnes ont tout de même manifesté dans toute la France, dont 110 000 à Paris, selon les chiffres communiqués par le ministère de l‘Intérieur. Le ministre a recensé 289 actions sur l‘ensemble du territoire, contre 430 le 17 octobre, qui avaient rassemblé 550 000 personnes. De son côté, la CGT revendique 800 000 manifestants partout en France, autant que la semaine précédente, et 250 000 dans la capitale.
Frankreich, Spanien, Italien, Portugal und Albanien: Proteste in Europa – auch mit Gewalt
In vielen Ländern Europas sind erneut Menschen auf die Straße gegangen – zum Teil mit ähnlichem Anliegen. Oft geht es den Veranstaltern dabei unter anderem um steigende Lebenshaltungskosten, um hohe Mietkosten, um Korruption. In vielen Orten schlug der Protest dabei allerdings in Gewalt um.
54 milliards euros d’économies, 54 milliards de raisons d’être en grève et dans la rue le 5 novembre !
La FEC FO appelle l’ensemble des syndicats à se mobiliser massivement aux côtés de la jeunesse pour défendre les libertés civiques et syndicales.
La situation actuelle des jeunes, salariés, retraités, précaires exige dès maintenant de réunir toutes les forces, en grève, pour obtenir satisfaction !
– Augmentation des salaires et des pensions.
– Baisse drastique des prix du gaz, de l’électricité, des carburants.
– Baisse de la TVA sur les produits de première nécessité.
– Arrêt des exonérations des cotisations sociales.
– Arrêt des plans de suppression d’emplois.
– Rejet des projets de budgets 2027 de l’État et de la Sécurité sociale (prévision de 54 Mds€ d’économies faites sur le dos des salariés, retraités et précaires).
– Investissements massifs dans nos services publics : écoles, hôpitaux, Sécurité sociale, sécurité civile, assurance chômage… par ailleurs créateurs d’emplois.
– Arrêt de la sous indexation et du gel des pensions de retraite, maintien de l’abattement de 10 % pour les retraités.
– Retrait définitif de la dernière réforme des retraites, et la préservation du système de retraite par répartition.
Toutes et tous en grève et dans la rue le 5 novembre 2026 !
Gewerkschaft: Generalstreik in Frankreich am 5. November
(October 21, 2026)
Frankreichs Gewerkschaftsbund CGT hat im Zuge der aktuellen Sozialproteste zu einem Generalstreik am 5. November aufgerufen. Bei einem „erfolglosen Treffen“ am Mittwoch sei Premier Sébastien Lecornu auf die Forderungen der Gewerkschaften und der Demonstranten vom Wochenende in keiner Weise eingegangen, hieß es. Jetzt sei die Zeit für Streiks gekommen. Das Land befinde sich in einer Krise, die soziale Lage habe sich für eine Mehrheit der Bevölkerung klar verschlechtert.
La CGT appelle à généraliser la grève le 5 novembre
(October 21, 2026)
La CGT appelle à des assemblées générales partout sur les lieux de travail pour décider de la généralisation de la grève le 5 novembre, date de la journée de grève et de manifestations décidée par l‘intersyndicale interprofessionnelle.
C‘est par la grève massive que nous mettrons le patronat et le gouvernement sous pression et que nous gagnerons sur nos revendications et celles de la jeunesse. C‘est par la grève que nous obtiendrons les augmentations de salaires et pensions indispensables pour vivre dans de bonnes conditions. C‘est par la grève que nous gagnerons les budgets pour nos services publics et les financements pour notre Sécurité sociale.
Mobilisation de la jeunesse, retour des gilets jaunes, appel de l‘intersyndicale… On vous résume les revendications et la réponse du gouvernement
(today)
L‘exécutif est confronté à une colère sociale puissante mais aussi plurielle, avec des revendications portées par différents mouvements. Franceinfo fait le point sur les demandes des uns et des autres et les réponses apportées jusqu‘à présent.
The union man who unleashed a political earthquake in California
(March 25, 2026)
When Gavin Newsom stood before a room of economic elites in New York last December and derided a “single labor leader” pushing a tax on California billionaires, he never said his name. He didn’t need to.
Everyone in California politics knows of Dave Regan, the legendarily combative health care union chief who has spent decades wielding California’s ballot initiative system against the health care industry.
But his newest mission is on a scale orders of magnitude larger.
California billionaire tax headed for ballot despite top Democrats’ opposition
The push to put a billionaire tax to a popular vote in blue California has exposed deep divides on the left, even as Democratic politicians across the country rally around calls for the wealthy to pay more. The issue is pitting the populist mood of the public against many Democrats’ fears that the measure will push the ultrawealthy to join a broader exodus from the state and take their tax dollars with them.
Gavin Newsom fails to stop California’s controversial billionaire tax from going to voters
(June 25, 2026)
SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West President Dave Regan refused to back down on the billionaire tax.
Gavin Newsom moves to neutralize tax on billionaires
(January 12, 2026)
The conversations, reported here for the first time, have occurred intermittently for months as SEIU-UHW’s ballot initiative targeting billionaires migrated from the backrooms of California politics to the center of a raging debate about Silicon Valley and income inequality, sparking tech titans’ wrath and vows to move out of state.
“We’ve been at this for four months,” Newsom said in an interview with POLITICO, describing an “all-hands” effort that has included him meeting one-on-one with SEIU-UHW’s leader, Dave Regan.
A compromise does not appear imminent. A union official cast doubt on the possibility of a deal, saying the two sides do not currently have another meeting scheduled and framing a ballot fight as an inevitability.
California Billionaire Tax Act
Our solution: The California Billionaire Tax Act
We’re calling on California’s billionaires to step up and pay a one-time, emergency 5% tax to prevent the collapse of California healthcare and help fund California public K-14 education and state food assistance programs. This would protect healthcare jobs and ensure working people and families can get the care they need. The tax would be paid only by Californians worth more than $1 billion — which is about 200 people who hold a combined wealth of $2 trillion.
Get the fact sheet: English | Spanish
Visit the campaign website.
If California’s race for governor is a stress test for democracy, it’s failing
Electoral reforms are necessary but insufficient. The deeper problem is not the ballot — it is the collapse of the organized civic life that once connected voters to the institutions that govern them. Rebuilding that infrastructure is not a workaround. It is the most important work we can be doing today, not just for California but for America.
The Case for California’s Billionaire Wealth Tax
(May 26, 2026)
A California ballot initiative that will be put to voters in November would tax just 5 percent of billionaires’ fortunes over five years. This trailblazing wealth tax would be a small (for the ultrawealthy) but important (for everyone else) step toward raising needed tax revenue and curbing the state’s runaway inequality.
The billionaire class in California includes roughly 250 households, a mere 0.001 percent of the state’s families. Yet its wealth now amounts to more than half of California’s entire annual economic output.
This means that if these billionaires spent all of their wealth, they could buy more than half of the goods and services produced in a year in the entire state.
AP PHOTOS: Across the globe, workers observe May Day
The holiday, also known as International Workers’ Day or Labor Day, marks the struggles and achievements of workers and the labor movement around the world. Thousands of people are expected to attend rallies and demonstrations calling for stronger protections for workers, higher wages, greater equality and more.