Op-ed: An unnecessary cost for the country

Basic services are always a source of controversy, but it is important that the national government and labor unions find some balance and guarantee both the citizens' constitutional right to strike and a minimum level of public services.

In the first general strike, there was for the first time an agreement between both parties about what basic services to maintain. For this reason the labor unions unveiled yesterday the same proposal that they agreed to with Zapatero's government. The labor unions want to guarantee that the strike succeeds, because if it fails, then they will struggle to recuperate.

But Spain's problem is a lot bigger than what the labor unions are experiencing. Citizens are making and will continue to make many sacrifices, such as losing between one and two billion euros collectively in a single day of missing work to strike.