"Making a demand is one thing, but singling someone out is quite another," Gaudes complained in a message posted on Instagram, rejecting the transfer of the labor dispute to her family’s surroundings. The councillor stressed that protest and making demands are legitimate, but said that "singling out relatives’ homes is not". Gaudes also specified that, according to her account, no other building entrance had been targeted, only her mother’s home.
The complaint comes amid an escalation of the dispute between cleaning staff and FCC Medio Ambiente, the service concession holder, and Zaragoza City Council. The strike began last Wednesday with stoppages affecting street cleaning, waste collection and recycling centers, while unions continue to consider making the action indefinite from October 7, coinciding with the start of the Fiestas del Pilar, if no agreement is reached.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING TALKS REMAIN DEADLOCKED
The labor dispute remains unresolved after months of negotiations without an agreement. Unions are demanding wage and working-condition improvements, as well as progress on work-life balance, equality, internal promotion and a reduction in part-time employment. Union representatives maintain that workers have lost purchasing power in recent years and consider the company’s proposal insufficient, while FCC argues that its offer amounts to a 9.4% increase between 2025 and 2027 when all components are included.
The strike also began with minimum services of 40.5% ordered by Zaragoza City Council, a decision that unions consider "abusive and disproportionate" and which has placed Gaudes at the center of their criticism. The Zaragoza council, for its part, defends the need to guarantee essential services during the stoppages. The first day was also marked by several incidents involving collection trucks that municipal sources described as "sabotage", including punctured tires.
