There are a few minutes to twelve noon and a burst of jubilation resounds in full Passeig de Gracia Barcelona, in parallel to the small motor that guides the closing of the blinds of the star store of H&M. “It stays closed, it stays closed“Scream dozens of workers from the textile firm gathered this Wednesday to demand more hiring and better salaries. Between canisters of red smoke, the staff of shop assistants and store personnel second the first day of strike of 24 hours that has forced H&M to close all its stores in Barcelona and more than a hundred throughout Spain, according to the unions.
“What’s going on? [¿Qué pasa aquí?]”Asks a group of five young British girls. “Strike, strike [Huelga]”, replies one of the workers who is distributing leaflets. The five British, loaded with several bags from the competition, let out an “ok” and turn around, facing their next business objective without further ado.
The intersection between Gran Via and Passeig de Gràcia is abuzz with tourists, teenagers and retirees who take advantage of the first day of sales to do their shopping. Paper or plastic bags full of summer clothes hang from the forearms of passers-by, but none bear the H&M brand. Despite the fact that management has tried to open the store with a few employees – “all of TTE specifically hired for today”, comments from the unions”-, the protests of the workers on strike have forced them to close.
A labor conflict is not a good claim and rival brands with a store in the noble area of Barcelona rub their hands. “Many sales, but without us nothing at all“Shout the workers stationed in front of the H&M ‘flagship’. “Don’t play the Swedes, raise our salaries”, is one of the other slogans that the workers chant, referring to the origin of the owners of the textile corporation, founded in 1947 in Västerås (Sweden).
“We are overwhelmed all day”
Héctor and Marta -we will call them that to preserve their anonymity- are two of the workers who have supported the first day of the 24-hour strike called by CCOO and UGT in all Spain. “I’ve been working at H&M for 15 years and things have clearly gotten worse. What we used to do with 10 people now we have to do with three,” says Héctor. “We are going to overwhelm you all day and customers notice it, you see them looking for you all over the store,” adds Marta. “They don’t want to hire more people and we are very overwhelmed. People end up petting and take leave,” they agree. “For the thousand euros and little a month that they pay you a lot, we can put up with it,” they complain.
The main demand of the centrals is that H&M hire more people and increase the hours of part-time workers to alleviate the work overload they denounce. “There are people, women above all, who have been working here for 10 years with a 24-hour contract a week and they don’t want to give more hours,” says the general secretary of CCOO de Catalunya at H&M, mario gonzalez. 700 clean euros is the salary with which one of these sales clerks has to make it to the end of the month.
This unionist takes out his mobile phone and begins to show photos and videos of a ‘whatsapp’ group shared with other union delegates, in which he shows how similar stores in Madrid, Malaga or Seville, among others, have closed with protests. “The mountains of clothes are higher than our salaries“, says another of the slogans of the protest.
The sales continue
At the H&M store in the Glòries shopping center there are no pickets and union revelry, but it is also closed. Its workers either have not come or are in the protest. Who does get closer in a constant flow, like a Malaysian drop, are the potential buyers who run smack-faced -almost literally- with the glass door of the store. Many look at her strangely, as if the automatic door opening sensor did not work.
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One even goes so far as to use the stroller where she carries her baby as a weak battering ram, in case what the door really needs to open is a little push. It doesn’t work and then she looks up and reads the sign the company has put up: “Our store will be closed today. Sorry for the inconvenience.” Right next to it, a leaflet attached with zeal from the unions, in which they synthesize the reasons for her strike.
In the windows of the Glòries store, H&M has not gone so far as to place posters with the claim of the sales. So far it has not been able to make them profitable and most passers-by who bump into that immobile glass door turn around and enter any of the other competing stores to continue spending.