SPAIN'S SOCIALIST TRADE UNION PUSHES FOR WAGE HIKE
Spain's General Union of Workers (UGT),
the trade union arm of the Socialist party, will keep pressing
for salary rises of seven pct despite government
recommendations for a five pct ceiling, a UGT spokesman said.
    Trade union sources said coal mines in Asturias remained
closed by protests against planned job cuts. A 24-hour stoppage
at the state railways RENFE, coinciding with strikes at two
airlines next Friday, was virtually certain to be confirmed.
They said construction workers would start a five-day strike
next week.
    Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez last night sought support
for his call to limit wage rises in an effort to cut inflation
to five pct from 8.3 pct last year. He told a press conference
the Socialist government could not meet all demands and would
not yield to demagogy.
    Antonio Hernandez Mancha, leader of the main opposition
right-wing Popular Alliance (AP) party which tabled a motion of
no confidence against the government, said Gonzalez had run out
of imagination. But political sources said the government,
holding an absolute majority in parliament, is sure to survive
the no confidence debate opening tomorrow.
 REUTER
