Under the slogan “Borrokan ari gara, Let’s put an end to precariousness!”, two demonstrations took place this Sunday in Bilbao, San Sebastián, Pamplona and Vitoria-Gasteiz. The union believes “indispensable” the organization of the workers.
Euskaraz irakurri: Lan eta gizarte prekarietatearen aurka atera da ELA Hego Euskal Herriko hiriburuetan
The complaint of the job and social precariousness is the axis of the demonstrations called by THE A that took place this Sunday in the capitals of Hego Euskal Herria, on the occasion of May 1, International Working People’s Day.
The union has insisted that the organization of workers is “indispensable”, and “more important than ever that wages rise above the CPI”.
In Bilbao, San Sebastián and Pamplona, the marches started at 11:30 a.m. under the slogan “Borrokan ari gara, Let’s put an end to precariousness!”, while the one in Vitoria-Gasteiz did so a little later, at 12 p.m. :00 hours.
Lakuntza: “The problem is lowering taxes on companies, not raising wages”
The secretary of the ELA union, Mitxel Lakuntza, criticized in the act of Bilbao the Basque Government for “asking” the power plants to give up claiming wage increases according to the CPI and has affirmed that “the problem is not to increase salaries, but to lower taxes on companies”.
“We have just lost 10% of purchasing power in the last decade -17% in the public sector- when companies have declared historic profits and ask us to be part of a strategy of impoverishment in a society where for decades, the wealth is distributed worse”, he reproached.
Lakuntza: “The strike, organizing and uniting people, is today the best tool to end precariousness”
Lakuntza has affirmed that Euskadi is one of the communities where “big companies” pay less taxes “between bonuses and exemptions”, and has highlighted that these large companies “command more” than governments and these public powers “are not capable” of defending the general interest.
In this context, he has denounced the energy companies “that openly defraud the citizen while obtaining historical benefits”, and has ensured that the Executives “consent to this scam and do not put speculators and swindlers in their place”.
Mitxel Lakuntza (ELA), in his speech in Bilbao. Photo: @ELAsindikatua
“Lowering taxes on companies and not raising wages only achieves one goal: increasing inequality and poverty,” he said.
Lakuntza has also referred to the precariousness and, after highlighting that in Hego Euskal Herria there are 541,600 precarious workers -311,000 women-, he assured that ELA has made it a priority to put an end to this precariousness, and stressed that this objective cannot be achieved “by wasting time at tables of social dialogue that do not even have an agenda. strikeorganize and unite people, is today the best tool to end precariousness”.
In his speech, the ELA leader cited the war in Ukraine “and all the other forgotten wars” and after calling for a peace agreement, he recalled “all” the refugees, “victims of war, repression or poverty”.
Demonstration called by ELA, in Bilbao. Photo: @ELABilbo
Demonstration in Pamplona
In the case of Pamplona, the demonstration has started from the Plaza de la Cruz to conclude in the Plaza Consistorial. During the tour, the participants have chanted slogans such as “there is no lack of money, there are plenty of thieves”, “military expenses for schools and hospitals” or “borroka da bide bakarra”.
The demands for more wages and more equality and against precariousness have been present on banners in which there have also been messages alluding to the temporality in the Administration.
In statements to the media, the ELA coordinator in Navarra, Imanol Pascual, in addition to denouncing social inequalities, has rejected “the war in Ukraine and other forgotten wars such as those in Palestine, Yemen or the Sahara”.
Along the same lines as Lakuntza, the trade unionist criticized the fact that both the governments and the employers “are telling the workers that this is not the time to raise wages“, which, in his opinion, is “a great scam” since “both the electricity companies and the IBEX 35 companies in 2021 have had historical benefits, therefore wealth is being generated”.
“The debate that must be faced is how that wealth is distributed,” said Pascual, who pointed out that there are two ways to do this, “taxation and collective bargaining”.
Demonstration called by ELA, in Pamplona. Photo: @ELANafarroa
Source: Eitb
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