Commemorating the Barcelona Workers’ Congress and General Workers’ Union
A new plaque has been unveiled at number 7, Carrer de Jovellanos, in the Raval neighbourhood, to commemorate the Barcelona Workers' Congress of 1888, which saw the birth of the General Workers' Union (UGT), one of the first class-struggle unions in Europe and the world.
From 12 to 15 August 1888, 25 delegates from some forty workers’ organisations, representing more than five thousand workers, gathered at Teatre Jovellanos, number 7 on the same street, to found the UGT.
Inaugurated on the 136th anniversary of the UGT’s founding, the plaque commemorates these events, highlights some of the union’s founding aims and celebrates the history of social and labour achievements, such as the eight-hour working day and the proclamation of the Second Republic. It also reflects on the struggle, political repression, trade union persecution and exile experienced during the dictatorship.
