Wed 1 Apr 2020, 08:32 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Ray Physick, Liverpool Walton CLP.
Coronavirus is a class issue in Spain. According to a report in The Guardian today, people living in the poor areas of Barcelona are six or seven times more likely to contract the virus compared with those living in wealthy parts of the city. In the working class area of Roquetes, for example, the rate of infection is 577 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to only 77 per 100,000 in upmarket Sant Gervasi. In the satellite towns of El Prat Llobregat and Badalona, the infection rates are 604 and 593 respectively per 100,000 inhabitants.
A major cause of the high infection rate is that many essential workers – carers, supermarket assistants and cleaners – are working without protection. Although deemed essential workers by the government, such people are still receiving low wages, while their health and safety is receiving scant attention. Having been at work all day, under constant threat of exposure to the virus, these workers return home increasing the chances of infecting the very people they live with.
Economy dire even before coronavirus
Moreover, many people living in the poorer quarters of Barcelona are more likely to be suffering from long-term health issues, itself a product of the wider consequences of a decade of austerity. Generally poor health is a long-standing problem in working class areas but coronavirus has exposed just how vulnerable ordinary people are to a viral epidemic. A decade of austerity has severely weakened the health care system and this may well go some way in explaining the appalling death rate from coronavirus in Spain. Today, El País reports that for the fifth day running more than 800 people have died from the virus.
The general economic situation was dire prior to the epidemic outbreak. Unemployment in Spain, for example, stood at 13.7%, double the European Union rate. Amongst young people the unemployment rate is over 30%. A recent Oxfam report showed that about half of the Spanish population have trouble making ends meet. In Barcelona’s poorest areas life expectancy is 11 years lower in the poorer neighbourhoods compared with the richest ones.
The situation post the forthcoming economic crash will only compound these problems. The need for a socialist alternative will become ever clearer to many thousands of working class people over the coming months and years.
Supplementary comments, April 2
On a day when another 950 people have lost their lives to coronavirus, reports in El País indicate the depths of social and economic crisis that is engulfing Spain. The paper reports that 620,000 workers have had their contracts suspended. The mechanism being used by employers, known as ERTE (expediente de regulación temporal de empleo) allows companies to issue temporary redundancy notices to its workforce. Under the system, workers are still employed but the company do not have to pay their wages.
The redundant workers can claim unemployment benefit up to a maximum of 70% of their salary. The most-affected sections of the workforce are in the service and construction sectors. The government sees these measures as temporary, but given the precarious nature of the Spanish economy it is not ruled out that many companies will collapse during the coronavirus crisis.
The dire economic situation was confirmed by the Minister of Labour, Yolanda Díaz, who announced that in March, 834,000 workers lost their jobs, the biggest rise in unemployment ever recorded in Spain.
Fourth most unequal EU country
A recent Oxfam report, Inequality 1 Equal Opportunities 0, showed that Spain is the fourth most unequal country in the EU. The report noted that despite previous attempts at social and employment protection, neither a reduction in poverty, nor income redistribution, has been achieved. Indeed, recent figures, the report shows, reveals that the richest 1% have 25 out of every 100 Euros while the poorest 50% only have 7 Euros out of every 100. Given the economic fall-out following the unfolding economic crisis this situation will almost certainly worsen. Indeed, mass unemployment on a scale not seen since the 1930s cannot be ruled out.
Even prior to the coronavirus epidemic capitalism worldwide was entering a period of economic slowdown, which in all probability would have led to a recession. Now a worldwide slump is on the agenda, a situation that will only compound the social and economic inequalities in Spain. Socialists need to demand that the PSOE-led coalition government of Pedro Sánchez responds to the crisis with radical socialist policies. This should include nationalisation of large companies seeking to use the crisis to offload workers.
