The final proposal that, through the Department of Employment and Employment of the Basque Government, the majority of trade unions and FVEM, the metal workers of Bizkaia, was approved at meetings held on Wednesday between their members by the majority of the workers, LAB, CCOO and UGT, representing 59% of the workers among the three unions. Thus, 50,000 metal workers in Bizkaia will have a new agreement.

The agreement foresees a wage increase of 15% between 2022 and 2025 – 6.5% in 2022, 4% in 2023, 2% in 2024 and 2.5% in 2025 – but this point includes a revision clause according to the CPI. Other measures included in the agreement are the extension of subrogation to a larger number of workers, improvements in compensation for incapacity for accident and the inclusion of LGBTI+ people in harassment protocols.

"The progress made has been thanks to the fight," explains Unai Orbegozo, CCOO, journalist Aiara de Urreta, Hamaika TB. For Iratxe Azkue, a fellow at LAB, they have also achieved the initial goal: "For us, what is important is to improve the working conditions of the workers, and that is what we have achieved, there are no setbacks",

The next meeting between the three trade unions and the FVEM will take place on Friday, and the pre-agreement for the convention may be signed.

For its part, ELA will meet with the workers on Tuesday. This union sees no improvement in the latest proposal made through government intermediation: "The contents of the current offer are practically the same as two months ago", he explains, and considers that "staging" is the only one that has changed. In any case, ELA stressed that the improvements were due to strikes and mobilisations made, in line with the other unions.

Last fall workers began a hard cycle of strikes, at the end of November they stopped all week and the Ertzaintza also suffered attacks by demonstrators and news pickets. The strike affected not only metal companies but also car production.