The protest is part of the rejection of the new Barcelona City Council agreement, which has already led to mobilizations by nursery school workers, social services, and citizen attention offices since February 5. While the majority unions CSIF, UGT, and CCOO endorsed the agreement, Intersindical, CGT, and Ábacos (the nursery school union) reject it.
Planned stoppages include a partial strike day on Monday, April 20, from 6:00 PM to 8:45 PM, and a 24-hour strike on Tuesday, April 21, with a concentration in Plaça Universitat and a march to Plaça Sant Jaume. From April 25 onwards, 24-hour strikes will be held every Saturday. The Barcelona City Council has warned that the opening and usual services of the libraries cannot be guaranteed.
In addition to the strikes, librarians will gather during the Sant Jordi Proclamation on Wednesday, at Portal de l'Àngel during Sant Jordi day on Thursday, and during the Barcelona City Council plenary session on Friday.
“"There is contempt for the collective, a lack of conciliation, and poor management by the consortium and the Barcelona City Council."
The works council denounces growing discontent among the staff, totaling nearly 500 workers, which could double if libraries outside the city dependent on the Diputació are included. Unions describe the collective as "feminized, invisible, and precarious," and regret being excluded from convention negotiations.
Among the grievances, they mention shifts of up to eleven hours, six or seven consecutive working days, and an average of 18 additional working days per year compared to a five-day work week. They also denounce a lack of flexibility, absence of teleworking, and lack of protocols to address situations of violence. They warn of a chronic shortage of staff and foresight, with "understaffed" teams while new facilities are opened without sufficient resources, affecting service quality and worker health.
The sector demands specific negotiations to improve working conditions, review schedules and working hours, reinforce staff, and recover purchasing power. They also demand supplements for management and public service, as well as the implementation of mixed teleworking. Under the platform Defensem Biblios, the collective has called on citizens to support the mobilizations with the slogan: "We love libraries, let's defend them!".
This conflict adds to broader discontent in the sector. The Official College of Librarians-Documentalists of Catalonia (COBDC) expressed its "surprise and concern" in March over the modification of the Catalan library system law without prior consultation. The college denounces that the change eliminates the requirement for each library's director to be a qualified librarian and leaves the regulation of technical staff pending a future regulation, risking professional recognition and public service quality. They demand urgent meetings with parliamentary groups and the government to clarify the scope of the reform.
