SPAIN TROUBLE THIS SUMMER ? ONE DAY LAST WEEK, THREE IMPATIENT SHRIEKS 
OF A LOCOMOTIVE WHISTLE SHATTERED THE MORNING CALM OF SANLUCAR DE 
BARRAMEDA, A SMALL SPANISH CITY IN THE GRAPE COUNTRY AROUND CADIZ 
. ON THE DUSTY RAILROAD PLATFORM, THE STATIONMASTER NERVOUSLY PACED BACK 
AND FORTH WAITING FOR THE EXPECTED PASSENGERS, SEASONAL WORKERS WHO COMMUTE 
TO THEIR JOBS IN THE VINEYARDS . BUT SCARCELY A SOUL 
SHOWED UP AT THE STATION, FOR IN SANLUCAR AND NEARBY JEREZ 
DE LA FRONTERA 3,900 WORKERS WERE OUT ON STRIKE FOR A 
$2.50 DAILY WAGE (A 50 #$ BOOST), PORTAL-TO-PORTAL PAY BETWEEN THE 
VINEYARD AND HOME, AND TWO NOT ONE DAILY CIGARS, THE SLANG 
WORD FOR THE WORKERS' TRADITIONAL 20-MINUTE SIESTA . THE STRIKE WAS 
THE LATEST AND BIGGEST IN A WAVE OF LABOR UNREST THAT 
HAS SWEPT DICTATOR FRANCISCO FRANCO'S SPAIN THIS SPRING . IN BARCELONA 
THE HISPANO SUIZA AIRPLANE-ENGINE PLANT RECENTLY LAID OFF 150 EMPLOYEES FOLLOWING 
A SERIES OF WORK SLOWDOWNS, WAS FORCED TO HIRE THEM BACK 
WHEN 2,000 OLIVETTI FACTORY EMPLOYEES THREATENED A SYMPATHY WALKOUT . TWO 
SITDOWN STRIKES IN A SINGLE WEEK DISRUPTED WORK IN A SEVILLE 
TEXTILE PLANT . SIX HUNDRED MADRID METALWORKERS HAVE BEEN THREATENING SIMILAR 
TROUBLE AFTER STUBBORNLY REFUSING TO SIGN A NEW CONTRACT . AID 
FROM THE PRIESTS . THE COMPLAINTS ARE MANY, FOR THE SPANISH 
WORKER PUTS IN LONGER HOURS FOR LESS PAY THAN ALMOST ANY 
OTHER WORKER IN WESTERN EUROPE, AND STRIKES ARE LEGALLY BANNED . 
WHEN EL CAUDILLO GRANTED SUBSTANTIAL WAGE BOOSTS FOR THE 60,000 STRIKING 
ASTURIAS COAL MINERS LAST SUMMER, HE MERELY WHETTED THE APPETITES OF 
WORKERS IN THE REST OF THE COUNTRY ; ANOTHER INCREASE LAST 
JAN . 1, RAISING UNSKILLED LABORERS FROM A MINIMUM 60 #$ 
TO $1 PER DAY, DID NOT HELP THE MILLIONS OF SKILLED 
WORKERS ABOVE THIS MEAGER FLOOR . OPENLY BACKING THE LATEST WAVE 
OF STRIKES ARE THE PRIESTS OF THE WORKERS' BROTHERHOODS OF CATHOLIC 
ACTION AND SEVERAL SMALL BUT EFFECTIVE CATHOLIC LAY ORGANIZATIONS THAT REGULARLY 
BLAST THE CAUDILLO'S TIGHT CONTROLS ON WORKERS FROM BENEATH THE SHELTERING 
WING OF THE CHURCH . ONE SUCH GROUP, THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN 
WORKERS, PUBLISHES AN UNCENSORED AND OUTSPOKEN MONTHLY BULLETIN, JUVENTUD OBRERA, THAT 
DEMANDS FREE, WESTERN-STYLE LABOR UNIONS, LASHES OUT AT THE ANACHRONISTIC SINDICATOS, 
WHICH FIX PRICES AND WAGES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY . SAID JOURNAL 
EDITOR FRANCISCO GUERRERO, 25, DESCRIBING HIS MISSION LAST WEEK : " 
OUR WORK IS GOD'S ANSWER TO THE EVIL NEGATION OF ALL 
HUMAN VALUES . IT IS THE ONLY SALVATION FOR SPAIN'S MASSES, 
OPPRESSED FROM ABOVE (BY FRANCO) AND MENACED FROM BELOW (BY THE 
COMMUNISTS) . " A TRIP TO CADIZ . SUCH FRANK TALK 
HAS THE REGIME SERIOUSLY WORRIED, AND A FEW OF THE MORE 
PROGRESSIVE MEMBERS OF FRANCO'S AUTHORITARIAN REGIME ARE ANXIOUSLY TRYING TO IMPROVE 
LABOR CONDITIONS . THE LABOR MINISTRY IS PREPARING A BILL TO 
LEGALIZE " LABOR " STRIKES (AS DISTINCT FROM " POLITICAL " 
STRIKES) . ANOTHER MEASURE OF THE REGIME'S CONCERN WAS THE SWIFT 
SETTLEMENT OF LAST WEEK'S TROUBLE AMONG THE VINEYARD WORKERS OF SANLUCAR 
AND JEREZ . AS SOON AS WORD OF THE WORK STOPPAGE 
WAS FLASHED TO MADRID, A LABOR MINISTRY OFFICIAL RACED TO CADIZ 
AND PRESSURED VINEYARD EMPLOYERS INTO BOWING TO MOST OF THE WORKER 
DEMANDS, INCLUDING MORE CENTIMOS AS WELL AS THE SECOND CIGAR . 
TROUBLE WAS OVER FOR THE MOMENT . BUT WORRIED FRANCO AIDES 
KNOW THAT DOZENS OF IMPORTANT WAGE CONTRACTS IN MANY INDUSTRIES ARE 
UP FOR RENEWAL DURING THE COMING WEEKS . UNLESS PAY BOOSTS 
ARE GRANTED PROMPTLY, SPAIN IS ALMOST CERTAINLY IN FOR A SERIOUS 
NATION-WIDE WAVE OF STRIKES THIS SUMMER . 