General strike on November 11: what your company can and can’t do

CCOO and UGT have called a nationwide general strike for November 11. Setting the broader debate aside, the key point for a company is a practical one: the right to strike is a fundamental right, and handling it badly exposes the business. Here is what you can do, what you can’t, and how to prepare for the day.

A strike day puts any HR department to the test. You have to keep whatever activity is possible going, scrupulously respect the workforce’s rights and avoid improvised decisions that, however well-intentioned, end up being illegal. The difference between sound handling and a serious problem usually lies in the details.

November 11 Nationwide Called by CCOO and UGT Fundamental right

What has been called and under what framework

The call is for a nationwide general strike on November 11, 2026, driven by the main trade unions. For management purposes, what matters is not the platform of demands but that the right to strike is a fundamental right, and as such it limits what the company can and cannot do.

Art. 28.2 Spanish Constitution

The Constitution recognizes workers’ right to strike in defense of their interests. It is a fundamental right, with the highest level of protection.

Framework for its exercise

Its exercise is regulated and constitutional case law has gradually refined it, including the prohibition on replacing those who join the strike by any means.

What your company CAN do

Reorganize its ordinary resources. Reorganize activity with the usual means and document the decisions taken.
Prepare a contingency plan. Provide information on access to the workplace, transport and how the day will be organized.
Communicate objective information. Give the workforce and clients neutral facts about the strike call, without pressuring or influencing anyone.
Set security and maintenance services. Negotiate them and designate by name the people needed to safeguard the premises and resume activity afterwards.
Keep the workplace open and monitor attendance. Anyone who wants to work must be able to do so; attendance is recorded as normal.

What your company CANNOT do

Ask who is going to join the strike. Inquiring about participation, before or during the strike, violates the right.
Replace strikers with other staff (internal strikebreaking). Their work cannot be assigned to other people in the company.
Hire outside replacements (external strikebreaking). You cannot use a temporary work agency or new hires to cover those on strike.
Replace strikers with technology (technological strikebreaking). Improvised reconfiguration of systems or automation of functions to undermine the strike is also prohibited.
Retaliate. No penalizing or treating worse anyone who joins the strike once they return to work.

Strikebreaking, in all its forms

The most recent constitutional case law has reinforced that replacing strikers with technical or automated means empties the right to strike of its meaning just as much as doing it with people. Technological improvisation on strike day is risky territory.

“The golden rule: the company can organize itself with what it already has, but cannot replace those on strike with anyone or anything.

Salary, contract and social security contributions

During the strike, the contract of those who join it is suspended: they do not provide services and, consequently, do not receive pay for that time. In practice this means three things:

Proportional deduction. The salary corresponding to the actual time on strike is deducted, no more and no less.
Special registration status. The person moves to special registration status with the Social Security, with the obligation to pay contributions suspended during the strike.
Full salary for those who cannot get in. If someone cannot reach the workplace for reasons beyond their control, no deduction is made as if they were on strike.

Your playbook for November 11: before, during and after

Before

Don’t ask about participation.
Communicate only objective information.
Reorganize resources and document it.
Negotiate security and maintenance services.

During

Keep the workplace open.
Don’t inquire about who is striking.
Record attendance as normal.
No improvised replacements.

After

Reinstate without retaliation.
Adjust the deduction to actual time.
Process the registration after the strike.
Review what to improve for next time.

A well-managed strike isn’t about “beating” the workforce, but about complying with the law and protecting the company from claims. Planning ahead, with labor-law judgment, is what makes the difference between a tense day and a problem that drags on.