STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: In Spain, workers are celebrating the power of the unemployed. When their jobs were cut, hundreds of people set up camp in Madrid and refused to move. CNN's Al Goodman shows us how their dogged defiance forced the government's hand.</s>AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A lot of workers who were laid off go quietly, but not at the Spanish Telecommunications company Sintel. When all 1,800 workers were axed, they built a shanty town -- not out in the boonies, but on Madrid's main boulevard, La Castellana, making sure no one forgets about them. They call it "the camp of hope," and it has been home, complete with kitchen and dining facilities, even a swimming pool. In happier days, they laid telephone cable, but Sintel, formerly an affiliate of Spain's big phone company, Telefonica, went bankrupt, and the workers took the offensive. The camp of hope was their best weapon, but not the only one. While the men stayed here, women workers and also wives shut themselves into Madrid's cathedral. And there were traditional protests: big, noisy marches downtown outside the Telefonica building. The combination has worked. After six months living in the camp of hope, they finally scored a deal for back pay and promises of job placements in other companies or early retirements. The Sintel union leader here tells the rank and file the vote is in favor of accepting the agreement. The government is footing the bill for this settlement, $150 million U.S. The camp of hope will be dismantled this weekend. Some will miss it. "I don't think we'll ever forget," this worker says, "the good times and the bad we've had here." But most seem happy not to spend another night here.</s>GOODMAN (on camera): The camp of hope was a gamble that paid off, but with Spain's 12 percent unemployment rate still the highest in Western Europe, many people here can't even find a job, much less get laid off. Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.
Laid-Off Madrid Workers Use Public Display to Secure Futures