Mitxel Lakuntza defends the strike as an “essential instrument” to face precariousness

The general secretary of ELA, False Lakuntza, has been reaffirmed this Wednesday that “the strike is an essential instrument to face precariousness” on the first day of XV Congress that the union holds between today and tomorrow in Bilbao. In his opinion, the gains in many sectors and companies would not be understood without resorting to the strike, and, in this sense, he recalled the strikes in residences in Bizkaia or in concerted centers.

Mitxel Lakuntza has valued “the spectacular results” of the legal services of ELA with favorable rulings in the courts and has added that the work of the legal services is part of the strategy against precariousness. The union leader has assured that ELA “is not going to stop and is not going to shut up” and will continue working “with those who want for a real political and social change.”

On this first day of the ELA Congress, which takes place only in the morning due to the pandemic, the management report that has been presented by Mitxel Lakuntza and the assistant general secretary Amaia Muñoa is voted on.

The Congress will be closed tomorrow with the re-election of Mitxel Lakuntza as general secretary, being the only candidacy that has been presented. They will also debate the presentation presented by the Executive Committee that will set the course for the next four years and elect the new Executive Committee.

The ALS National Committee has proposed three new people, all three women, to be part of the Executive committee: Leire Gallego Lopez de Goikoetxea, Alazne Mantxola Mintegi and Ane Miren Zelaia Arieta-Araunabeña. If supported by Congress, the executive It will be a joint body, made up of 6 women and 6 men and will once again have Amaia Muñoa as deputy general secretary, who will also be in charge of the international area.

ELA, the majority union in the Basque Country, holds the Congress under the slogan “Benetan garrantzitsuak diren gauzak; Aktibatu, Lortu, Zaindu” (“What really matters; Activate, Achieve, Care”), with the aim of “activating the working class and the whole of society “.

Of the 736 delegates 350 who participate in the congress come from the counties or territories that make up the union and another 350 from the sectoral federations (Industry and Construction, Services and Gizalan). The remaining 36 people are members of the National Commission. In addition, 384 of the delegates are men and 352 women, 47.2%.

ELA advocates a different collective bargaining in its presentation

In his presentation, ELA raises “a different collective bargaining to face job insecurity” considering that “the very tough positions” adopted by employers and governments oblige us to place strikes and mobilizations at the center of the action.

The union also advocates “for an independent Basque state; for a republican culture”, after estimating that the Basque and Navarrese governments “are mere administrative managers of the decisions made in Madrid”.

Regarding the alliances, ELA considers that only the so-called “Basque union majority” – which forms together with LAB and other minority centrals – “meets the necessary conditions to form a strategic union alliance.”