Roberto Vaquero's May Day speech outside Spain's union headquarters sparks fury

Roberto Vaquero takes on the unions on May Day: the speech you won't see on TV

The video of Roberto Vaquero standing in front of the union headquarters on May Day has sparked a debate that the mainstream media would have swept under the rug. On Burbuja.info, forum users don't mince words: according to most, the unions have been selling workers out for decades. Just ask anyone earning over €21,000 a year whose income tax brackets haven't been adjusted for inflation.

The speech that exposes the workers' 'representatives'

Vaquero pulls no punches: he accuses CCOO and UGT (Spain's two largest unions) of signing substandard collective agreements and siding with employers on immigration. Forum users rise to the challenge: "They haven't signed a single damn agreement that covers inflation," writes one. Another points out that the unions receive public subsidies while ordinary workers lose purchasing power year after year. The criticism isn't new, but the rawness of the video and the lack of any official union response reinforce the feeling that something is rotten in Spain's labour movement.

Unions vs. employers: who really defends the worker?

The most striking part of the thread is the direct comparison: "The employers' association works far better than the unions," claims one user. And it's not an isolated view. Several users point out that business owners have effective representatives while the unions have become a "bonus payment" for their leadership. Some even go as far as saying "I'd rather get screwed by my company than by the damn unions." The debate drifts towards immigration, with employers calling for more foreign labour and the unions backing that stance — something forum users see as a betrayal of Spanish workers.

50 years of lost rights

The thread doesn't stop at the video. References appear to the origins of May Day as a "pogre myth" and to the unions' historical complicity with power. "That's 50 years of losing labour rights," reads one post. The most radical users suggest simply doing away with Labour Day and the right to strike altogether, arguing they only serve to let "4 fat cats justify their little handout." The conclusion: Spain's union model is dead, and Vaquero's speech was merely the crash landing of that reality.

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The question left hanging: if the unions don't defend the worker, who will? Meanwhile, May Day will remain a holiday paid for by everyone — members or not.

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