In an opinion article published in URL0 by the ELA delegate in the residences of Gipuzkoa, Aintzane Orbegozo, said that “we want to sit with the Council to talk about the workers’ agreement, but Markel Olano refuses to do so. ELA, despite being a proposal for a solution, does not want to hear.” The ELA trade union has organised various activities for 14 June in Donostia-San Sebastián. At 10:30 a.m., Union Secretary General Mitxel Lakuntza will offer a conference at Bulevar Kiosko, where they will discuss current events.

The pandemic worsens working conditions

The conflict, which lasted three years, was interrupted by the workers themselves on 13 March 2020, with 243 days of strike and the pandemic paralysing the world. On 6 October 2020, the strike days resumed. When strikes resumed, they said: “If we were then talking about semi-enslaved working conditions [in the pre-pandemic era], what we women workers in the sector are suffering today is cruel.”

The nursing home was hit by the pandemic, many residents died and several workers were infected. The workers denounced that this experience left them “physically, psychologically and emotionally” and criticized that “they were left aside” by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and the companies behind the headquarters. They denounced the contempt and the bad management of the companies and the Council.

In Álava they have 14 days of strike

On 11 June, the fourteenth day of strike was held and the workers in the sector concentrated in front of the Basque Parliament in protest. They are calling for an agreement in Álava, as they claim that the Spanish State does not have the minimum working conditions to be able to access it. The strike day was held at the invitation of the unions ELA, UGT, CCOO and LAB, among others. The workers have been calling for a country agreement for more than two years.