- Over a week of strike in the Basque Country, textile workers have been demanding an increase in wages. Last week, workers ended the strike, after the government promised to raise wages to their workers. When it comes to returning to their places of work, however, it has been known that at least 750 people have been dismissed.
The government announced in September last year a rise in wages in the textile sector, which as it entered in 2019 increased its minimum wage by 51% to 82.75 euros. Since the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in 2013 and the deaths of more than 1,000 workers sewing clothes for multinationals, the first salary increase has been the increase. However, the workers have emphasized that this increase "does not compensate" the increased cost of living in the Basque Country.
The Elle magazine has taken up the statements of the trade unionist Shamim Imam. According to Imam, workers receive the base salary, which is only 40% of the real wage. From there everything depends on the bonds, bonuses and profits that are generated. “In fact, the base wage for workers has only increased by 372 points (4.4 euros),” he said.
With the new year, textile workers took to the streets angry at the fraudulent succession of a wage hike that had already entered into force. Last week the government approved a new wage hike to put an end to the disturbances and the workers disconvened the strike. Thus, on Wednesday, 16 January, the workers turned to work. It was then learned that many of them had been laid off: over 700 workers from many companies in the textile sector have been laid off.
A member of the clothing union has told the television network Channel NewsAsia that employers are trying to intimidate so that no one dares to protest and claim fair wages, as Interior has explained.
Many employers in workplaces have accused workers of damaging the machinery of their workplaces during the strike to give way to layoffs. According to AFP, company manager Metro Knitting has denounced more than 300 workers for damage to cameras and computers. As a pretext for "vandalism", in addition to the layoffs, twelve people have been arrested, who have been arrested.
A dead man
In addition to dismissals and arrests, the conflict has left one dead. The death was due to police intervention in the disturbances that led to the strike, in which tear gas and rubber balls were used against the people.