- Thousands of people have concentrated in front of the Basque Government’s headquarters in Bilbao to denounce the ‘social cuts’ that the CAV Accounts are going to suffer by 2020 and claim that 30 January is another reason for the strike.
The Basque Parliament approved on Thursday the 2020 budgets presented by PNV and PSE-EE with the abstention of the nine parliamentarians of Elkarrekin Podemos, two of Ezker Anitza-IU who voted against. In total, the Basque Government will have EUR 11,775 million to spend next year, 2.9% more than this year. Elkarrekin's spokesman Podemos, Lander Martínez, stressed that they have managed to "overcome continuism and take a first step in the right direction".
On the contrary, the agreement between the Purple Party and the Basque Government amounts to EUR 201 million, only by 2020, EUR 88.9 million, 0.7% of the total budget. In this sense, the Charter of Social Rights of Euskal Herria and the unions and organizations that make up the movement have denounced the agreement, which involves cuts in social, health, housing and education. The ELA trade union has stressed that Elkarrekin Podemos has made "its" the cap of the spending rule, according to which, although there is a surplus of more than 2.8%, the money should be spent on debt rather than on social items. Union Secretary General Mitxel Lakuntza wrote in Berria that "it is serious to assimilate the institutional left"
The Secretary of Feminism of the LAB trade union, Elixabete Etxeberria and Ane Escondidrillas Naiz.eus have given their opinion on the approval of the CAV budgets. It has strongly criticised the autonomous government of the PNV and PSE, underlining its lack of capacity to get in touch with the feminist movement of the Basque Country. In his view, it was "absolutely clear what was clear" in the analysis of these budgets: "How will the reality of women change without intervening in the causes underlying such violence, discrimination and precariousness?"
In this context, several nudes have concentrated in front of the headquarters of the Basque Government in Bilbao called by the Charter of Social Rights: "We are denouncing that absolutely anti-social budgets are being accepted: They set aside aid for the TAV and the arms industry, while cutting back on the GDR," one of them said.
Elkarrekin We can expect a 4% increase in the RGI party. However, the anti-exclusion platform Argilan and other social groups in Bizkaia have explained that, as a result of the cutbacks since 2012, each family in need will actually receive 34% less, far from the percentages of the Interprofessional Minimum Wage (SMI), which means overcoming a "minimum red line". EH Member Bildu Leire Pinedo was even more precise in plenary: "Beneficiaries will charge EUR 230 less per month, EUR 253 less if they are pensioners", he added.
"What worries us most is Podemos's change of attitude, which is the only difference in these budgets."
The call for decent pensions has been very present both in the Parliament of Vitoria-Gasteiz and in the street. But in addition to the penalties, it will also be women, "precarious" young people or sectors in situations of exclusion who will suffer the "intensification of social inequalities" promoted by "neoliberal" budgets, according to the Charter of Social Rights. "What worries us most is the change of attitude of Podemos, which is what sets us apart from these budgets," he added.
The movement therefore warns that they will continue to mobilize throughout the month: "There are enough reasons to be here today and within a month, on the general strike on January 30, on the street."