Spain's largest union Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) could call a general strike to protest against planned austerity measures, its head said today, although analysts regarded wider Greek-style unrest as unlikely, according to Reuters. CCOO head Ignacio Fernandez Toxo said he would "probably" invoke a general strike over the Socialist government's "right-wing economic policy, financial speculation and the markets." Spain has the highest levels of unemployment in the euro zone at 20 percent, up from a 2007-low of 8 percent, after a burst property bubble and consumer spending slump left millions from the construction and service sector without work. After protests in Greece turned violent in early May, there are concerns Spain could follow the same route, as the government makes drastic spending cuts in an effort to convince markets its public finances are under control. Investors fear Spain's Socialist government will be unable to reduce its budget deficit, from 11.2 percent of gross domestic product in 2009. United States President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called on the Spanish government for reforms over concerns of potential contagion from the failure of an economy more than three times the size of Greece's. While Toxo did not say how long the strike might be, a CCOO spokesman said industrial action normally lasted just one day. CCOO and Spain's second largest union confederation, the UGT, have already called a June 8 strike of civil servants angry over pay cuts imposed by the government's austerity campaign. Asked whether the UGT would join a general strike, a spokeswoman said: "We don't rule anything out. Our position hasn't changed." The CCOO and UGT have also promised to fight civil servant wage cuts, which form part of a 15-billion euro ($18.76 billion) austerity package announced by the government on Thursday, in the courts.
