Three of the five Getxo Aquarium workers in the Getxo Marina began an indefinite strike on 14 October, after the company Disetecmar S.L., in charge of the management of the centre, fired two workers. Among the dismissed are Javier Urkijo, representative of the ELA trade union and one of the top leaders of the Abertzale left. As he explained to us, the aquarium workers have been calling for two years for the direction to be followed by the agreement that corresponds to them, because so far they have "had no agreement". "The experts told us that it is up to us to have the Bizkaia Collective Social Intervention Convention, which is the one that museums have," Urkijo said. Thus, they informed the management, "but the latter did not want to accept it, but imposed on us that of marine aquaculture". The ELA trade union thus initiated a collective conflict procedure and last May the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country gave the workers the right, so from June it implemented that convention. However, the workers began to discuss with the company the labor categories, which they consider "too low" those established by the management due to the "incorrect" application of the agreement: "Everyone is like an helper, and that's impossible."

In addition, the Occupational Risk Prevention Plan is another issue that has generated discomfort among workers. According to the strikers, "in the aquarium there are a number of biological risks that the management does not comply with the steps that must be taken according to this plan". In response to all this, Sainz defended the decisions made, "in our opinion the agreement is well established and the occupational risk prevention plan is carried out by a subcontracted company". As regards the categories of staff, the Director of the Company states that they must be of an auxiliary and maintenance nature: "they cannot have the status of Commissioners or educators, because they have not received the necessary training". The strikers, for their part, have recalled that not only are they dedicated to the maintenance of the aquariums, but we "carry out guided tours with the schools and also develop educational plans".

Among all these moments of tension, on 1 October last, the management dismissed two workers, one of them representing the ELA trade union. According to the company, these are disciplinary layoffs, while strikers regret that "invented excuses" have been used to justify layoffs. In fact, the ELA representative recalled that a similar situation occurred in 2018 when the collective agreement began to be claimed. "When the elections were held to elect a trade union representative, the director tried to undo that process and did so without any result. He failed to do so and immediately tried to dismiss a worker, believing that it was a disciplinary dismissal. At that time we said that we were going to start an indefinite strike and at the end, after the agreement, there were no dismissals." In this sense, the head of the company Disetecmar SL and director of the Getxo Aquarium explained that "everything will be solved in the judicial way".

New contracts

Since the dismissal of the workers and the start of the strike at the Getxo Aquarium, two other workers have not joined the call for strike. The first was hired to fulfill his vacation, "and because of the strike, the management has extended the contract to be able to open the aquarium in the evenings and on Wednesdays," they explained. The second, for its part, has been contracted following the execution of the company’s layoffs.

These two contracts have also generated discomfort among the strikers, as the minimum services established by the Basque Government have remained in charge: "The management has acted against our right to strike and has confused the minimum services," he added. The minimum established services mainly focus on the maintenance of aquariums, although strikers regret that "the services are provided by those who work in the area of Biology and not the two who have not joined the strike".

No agreement

After this month’s fight, no progress has yet been made in resolving the labour dispute. The strikers say that the company "has not given any chance" to reach an agreement, "the director says he is not willing to negotiate, nor to readmit the two dismissed people". Thus, the three workers on strike have filed numerous complaints "for claims on arrears and for categories that do not fit". The two redundant workers have also lodged a complaint with the company, which has requested the invalidity of the redundancies. According to the ELA representative, "conciliation has been tried, but there has been no possibility of agreement", so the conflict is in judicial process.

They ask the City of Getxo to intervene

Getxo City Hall is responsible for the management of this aquarium, located in the Marina of Getxo, until 2025. In fact, in May 2006, the City of Getxo announced, with the cooperation of the Environmental Department of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the incorporation of the Abra Aquarium. Since then, the City Council of Getxo has held public competitions for the management of this center, being the first awarded to Aquagestion de Equipmentos, S.L., who subcontracted the company Disetecmar, S.L. To that end," the strikers have explained. The second competition, on the other hand, was won by this last company in 2016. The tenders have a duration of four years, so the responsibility of the company is provisional until February 2020, but thereafter the City Hall may extend up to a maximum of two times a year.

For all these reasons, the strikers believe that the City itself should also be involved in the solution of the labor dispute, "even more so because of the company's failure to comply with the agreement with the City Hall". Thus, they have contacted the Getxo Government Team on several occasions to express their concerns and request their intervention. The last contact took place at the October plenary session. In it, the strikers conveyed to the plenary their concerns and the situation of the labour conflict, according to municipal sources. In response, the mayor of Getxo, Amaia Agirre, said that they were going to "revise" their contract with the company Disetecmar S.L. to be able to clarify the situation.