Queja (Complaint)

The suffragette movement in Spain was less visible and organized than in other European countries. The right to vote for women was achieved in Spain in 1931, during the Second Republic. Benita Asas Manterola, born in San Sebastián, was an important defender of women’s rights and president of the National Association of Spanish Women (ANME). In the Basque Country, the suffragette movement was influenced by Basque nationalism and Catholicism. The Emakume Abertzale Batza (EAB), an organization of Basque nationalist women, played a significant role in promoting women’s rights. In Gipuzkoa, as in the rest of the Basque Country, there was an emphasis on women’s education as a means of emancipation. The Basque Women’s Association, founded in 1976, continued the fight for women’s rights in the post-Franco era.

The unionization of women in Gipuzkoa, as well as their contribution to workers’ struggles and social and political demands, is an integral part of the social and labor history of the region. At the beginning of the 20th century, women began to participate in unions, although initially to a lesser extent than men. In 1912, the Sindicato de la Aguja was founded in San Sebastián, one of the first specifically female unions in the region. During the general strike of 1917, women workers in Gipuzkoa were highly active. And in the 1920s, the cigar makers of San Sebastián led life-changing labor protests. Also, during the Civil War (1936-1939), many women became involved in political and union activities, although this period meant a setback in women’s labor rights. Under Franco, women’s trade union activity was severely restricted, but it did not disappear completely. In the 1960s, with the growth of the labor movement, women again played a more visible role in trade union struggles. Female workers in companies such as Michelin in Lasarte-Oria or CAF in Beasain actively participated in strikes and protests.

During the democratic transition, women in Gipuzkoa played an essential role in rebuilding the trade union movement. Women’s secretariats were created in the central trade unions, such as ELA and LAB, to address women’s labor problems specifically. In recent decades, women trade unionists in Gipuzkoa have been instrumental in the fight for equal pay and against labor discrimination and have actively participated in general strikes and in the organization of the feminist strikes on 8 March.