December 2003Nº 19

A total of 25 ELA leaders and memberstook part in the II European SocialForum, as well in the Trade Union

Forum, the Assembly for Women’s Rights andthe Social Movements Assembly, which wereheld to coincide with the Forum.

This opportunity to meet and reflect, thatbrought together 60,000 people from socialmovements, trade unions, NGOs, etc, from dif-ferent cultures, spheres and backgrounds, facili-tated the exchange of experiences, knowledgeand analysis, and has also helped to set up net-work and alliances.

The European construction process in general,and specifically the model that is outlined in theEuropean constitution project were the mainareas that were discussed and consideredduring this forum, where the concern of thevarious social agents regarding the Europeanmodel that is being designed and constructedwas made clear.

Another key issue was the future of altergloba-lism: how to put into practice the theoreticaldiscourse that has emerged from the successiveforums. To work jointly in diversesubjects(against the war, the model of society, etc.) it isthe route that stands out more.

ELA’s participationJose Elorrieta, secretary general, was one of thespeakers in a plenary session, when environ-mental, cultural, social, economic and labourrights were discussed, together with other tradeunion leaders.

Laura Gonzalez deTxabarri, head of theGender and InternationalDepartment, and MikelNoval, in charge of socialpolicy, also took part inseminars on trade unionstrategies for equalitybetween men andwomen, the question ofsocial struggles and therelationship with thesocial movements.

Nere Urrestarazu, incharge of gender andyouth policy, tookpart in one of theAssembly’s workshopson women’s rights.

FOR A MORE DEMOCRATICAND SOCIAL EUROPE

ELA is a tradeunion that isclosely linkedto its roots,but at thesame time

with aninternationalist

vocation.

An ELA delegation took part in the II European SocialForum, held in Paris from the 12th to 15th November

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ELA newsletter. December 2003

� Counterpower asan alternative toneoliberalismThe neoliberal aspect can be seen inthe trade union sphere in three dimen-sions: reduction of fiscal revenue andits progressivity, the outcome of whichis cuts to social spending; privatisationof public services, which means lessservices and fewer jobs, and of poorerquality; and the permanent legislativereview of the conditions of the workingclass, leading to even greater job inse-curity.

Given this situation and the dilemmafacing the trade union movement thathas to opt between two oppositemodels of social and political interven-tion, Basque trade unionism has optedfor trade unionism as a Counterpower.A trade unionism that has new respon-sibilities and new opportunities, withgreater capacity to put forward propo-sals, for better organisation and tofight. Fighting against discriminationby means of making collective bargai-ning more dynamic has to become acentral element of trade union com-mitment. In order to able to move for-ward in this direction, trade unionismhas to be promoted in companies, byencouraging the delegates to be moreactive and increasing the participationof the members”

� Trade unionismagainst discrimination Women, together with young people,are the collective that suffer the worstworking conditions in the job market.Their situation, with respect to theBasque Country, is basically characteri-sed by the high unemployment rate,10.73% (compared to 5.7% in the

case of men), the extremely high rateof job insecurity (37.1% with tempo-rary contracts, compared to 27.25% inthe case of men, while 83.8% of part-time contracts involve women), wagediscrimination (women earn an avera-ge of 32.5% less than men and 15%less doing the same job), segregation(large number of women in sectorswith low salaries), few of them holdingpositions of responsibility, as well astheir not being sufficiently involved inthe collective bargaining process, etc...

Given this situation, trade unionism hasto consider the fight against discrimi-nation as one of the major issues of itswork, and this demand should not justbe one more claim, but rather the cen-tral issue of the trade union struggle.

� By means of collective bargaining:by means of including new issues inorder to overcome the discriminationsuffered by women and also to encou-rage women to be involved in thenegotiating process.

� Opting for a model of society wit-hout discrimination, where the work(paid and unpaid) and wealth is distri-buted.

� Movements againstneoliberalismConditions needed so that all themovements can work together:

� Struggle for change: the people andentities trying to change society have

to work together from a progressivepoint of view.

� Convergence based on mutualrecognition between the differentagents.

� Respecting each organisation’s wayof working (of course, as long as theyare not violent methods).

Concerning the social forums, as tradeunion members, we are facing a new,yet interesting experience.

� We see them as open meeting spa-ces.

� Ideologically enriching: they are ide-ological sources that combine thoughtwith practice.

� Opportunity to set up networks,contacts… with other organisations indifferent spheres.

� Combining seminars, workshops….with mobilisation.

JOSE ELORRIETA

LAURA G. DE TXABARRIMIKEL NOVAL

ELA newsletter. December 2003

We believe that thedirect relationshipbetween movementsand political partiescreates a real problemof dependency thatlimits the necessaryautonomy. This doesnot mean that wecannot take a politicalstance, as our role isin the political sphere.

In short, the fightagainst neoliberal glo-balisation requires asocial and trade unionmovement that isstrong and deman-ding, working at agrassroots levels, witha plural ideologicalapproach, that isgoing in the samedirection.

� Fightinggets resultsNere Urrestarazuspoke about the situa-tion in homes for theelderly, a relativelynew sector, as theresult of the growingprivatisation of thisservice, and paradigmof the situation ofwomen in the jobmarket (95 % of theworkers in this sectorare women).

“The work conditionsare highly precariousthroughout this sec-tor. In the specificcase of three homes

for the elderly, thesalary received by theworkers in the privatesector was 37% ofwhat was establishedfor an identical cate-gory in a publichome, they worked230 hours more andhad an unstructuredtimetable that was“flexible” at the whimof the company.

Faced with this situa-tion, the 115 workersdemanded decentworking and salaryconditions, and wereforced to take actionwhen no progress wasmade during thenegotiations with thecompany. Action thatlasted nearly 8months, and whichled to the current sala-ries being doubledover a 5-year periodand a reduction of110 hours, to namejust some of the achie-vements. A key instru-ment for the successof this conflict was thestrike fund which hel-ped the workers tohold out.

I would like to end bystressing that as theconflict went on, anddespite the pressure ofthe striking workersbeing laid off andtheir contracts notbeing renewed, ELA’srepresentation andmembership in theaforementioned cen-tres steadily increa-sed”.

NEREURRESTARAZU

Key trade union sectionsDuring the 2004 collective bargainingprocess, ELA will seek to improve employ-ment conditions and fight against the dis-crimination that above all affects womenand young people.

The importance of the trade union sec-tions, the strategic role of the strike fundand the need to organise the memberswere the main points during the meetingof the ELA national committee to establishthe strategic area for the 2004 collectivebargaining sessions.

� COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

The sovereignist process,its relationship with socialpolicy and the situation ofthe stateless nations in theglobalised economy weresome of the issues discus-sed during the ELA-CSNde Québec meeting inSan Sebastián on the 13th

and 14th October. A tradeunion meeting which theCSC from Belgium andthe CIG from Galicia wereinvited to attend.

� INTERNACIONAL RELATIONS

Euskal Herria-Québectrade union meeting

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working conditionsThe workers at the Hotel Maria Cristina in San Sebastiánneeded to strike for 76 days before the Westin groupbelonging to the multinational Starwood group wouldaccept their demands for job stability for the temporaryworkers and decent wage increases.

The background to this conflict can be traced back to2003, when CCOO and UGT in Guipuzkoa, representingonly 18% of the workforce, signed the provincial sectoragreement with management. The conditions were farbelow those sought by the majority trade union, ELA,representing the 50.8%, which decided to break this pooragreement and negotiate with the companies and takingaction where possible, as was the case in the MariaCristina.

This long strike was noted for its high profile among thegeneral public, for the unity of the workers and for thepresence of the trade union and its resources, in the formof pickets, demonstrations and financially helping thestrikers thanks to the strike fund. Management took thestance that the conflict was an opportunity to challengethe specific collective bargaining model defended by ELA,which was why it lasted so long. In the end, the workerswon the battle, which yet again shows that fighting getsresults.

ELA/STV Euskal Langileen Alkartasuna / Solidarity of Basque WorkersBarrainkua 13. E-48009 Bilbao (Basque Country)

Telf: +34 944 03 77 00. Fax: +34 944 03 77 77. Web site: www.ela-sindikatua.org E-mail: nazioarte@elasind.org

ELA newsletterELA newsletterSolidarity of Basque Workers

“Democracy is allowingthe Basques to decide”

T here is a great deal ofcontroversy about the“Ibarretxe Plan”, whose

name comes from the surnameof the current leader of theBasque Government. GermanKortabarria, ELA’s spokesman,talks to us about the proposal.

-What is the “Ibarretxe Plan”?

-It is a bill to reform the Statute ofAutonomy that the BasqueGovernment submitted to theBasque Parliament. It involves anew status within Spain, withmore political power and, aboveall, a relationship based on freewill.

-How will it progress?

-The bill will be debated in theBasque Parliament, where it willbe voted on in a plenary session.If the bill has the backing of theabsolute majority, it will be sentfor consideration by the SpanishParliament, which should markthe start of a period of nego-tiation between both powers. In

any case, according to the propo-sal, the citizens of the BasqueCountry will have the last word bymeans of a referendum.

-What is the background to thisbill?

- It is the answer to the failure ofthe relationship model betweenthe Basque Country and Spain,that was introduced after the dic-tatorship, according to which theState recognising the authoritiesof the Basque institutions, yetreserved the right to revise, chan-ge and interpret them. This pro-cess to review, change and inter-pret the Basque Statute startedsome time ago and has speededup under the PP governments.The result is that it is now not theradical sovereignists, but themoderate sovereignists, such asIbarretxe, and the federalists, suchas Izquierda Unida, that have seenthat the political-legal frameworkneeds to be revised.

-What does ELA think about thePlan?

-As a great step forward, eventhough we have some reserva-tions regarding its contents and,above all, we think that it lacks agreater definition of its social andpolitical alliance policy. In anycase, we agree with what webelieve is the central point of theproposal: to leave the last decisionup to the citizens of the BasqueCountry.

-How has the Spanish govern-ment reacted?

-By raising the ghost of thecountry being split up (which hasa greater impact from the electo-ral point of view in Spain) and set-ting up a whole series of authori-tarian and repressive measures(political, legislative, legal, econo-mic, media campaigns, etc.). Thelatest thing is to reform the crimi-nal code so that Ibarretxe wouldbe facing jail if he called a referen-dum.

-Aznar has put Ibarretxe’s planon the same level as terrorism.

-Nowadays, “anti-terrorism” is agood alibi for an authoritariangovernment. What is true that allthe parties making up the BasqueGovernment are clearly againstETA and Ibarretxe himself has pro-mised not to hold the referendumwhile there is violence.

-You accuse the AznarGovernment of being authorita-rian...

- They have no democratic tradi-tion. Just think, when the demo-cratic city and town councils wereset up after Franco’s regime,Gernika’s decided to remove thetown medal that had been gran-ted to Franco, who had bombedand destroyed the town! Well,the current Spanish PrimeMinister José María Aznar, expres-sed his disgust in an article regar-ding this decision and backed thefigure of the disappeared dictator.This is the type of person who isnow governing Spain.

They will do anything before tur-ning to institutional and politicaldialogue and respecting the willof the people in conflicts that areclearly political, such as the onesin the Basque Country or inCatalonia.

GERMAN KORTABARRIA, ELA’s spokesman

We seek politicaldialogue andrespect of the willof the majority