Spain’s women footballers have voted to go on strike after negotiations over a collective agreement with the clubs broke down over minimum salary and part-time contracts.
After months of negotiations, 93% of the players voted in favour of a strike at a meeting in Madrid. The Spanish players’ union, the AFE, will organise the stoppage. There is an international break on the weekend of 3 November, meaning the strike is likely to start on 16 November. The AFE president, David Aganzo, said other possible dates are under discussion.
“We’re going on strike,” said the Athletic Bilbao captain, Ainhoa Tirapu, flanked by almost 200 players from the 16 clubs that compete in the first division. She said “red lines” had been crossed and the players had been left with no choice but to take industrial action.
A strike had been considered towards the end of last season but was ruled out because it was not considered the right time. Aganzo said there had been 18 meetings with the clubs in an effort to reach an agreement.
The AFE wants an increase in minimum salary from €16,000 a year to €20,000 but the biggest stumbling block has been the failure to reach an agreement on part-time contracts. The players demanded part-time contracts have a minimum salary of €12,000, 75% of the full-time salary. The clubs argued it should be 50%, or €8,000.
“We are footballers 24 hours a day, 100% of the time,” Tirapu said. “We had to take drastic measures, negotiating alone was not enough. We have to seek a better future. We have to fight for our rights.”
“We go on about how good women footballers are and we have to give them what they deserve,” Aganzo said. “We have to respect women. They should have rights commensurate with their obligations.”