Tubacex workers are receiving "a wave of fines" for the indefinite strike called last year, which has been followed by CCOO. This has been denounced by the Works Council in a statement.

The workers’ representation wanted to show solidarity with the persons charged for their participation in the Tubacex labour dispute or in other similar fights (Petronor, PCB, Metal Sector, Artiach…). Some of these members have, as they have pointed out, been called “prison sentences”, “and others are subject to disproportionate economic penalties”.

The trade unions believe that the fines imposed by the Llodio City Hall on the workers in Tubacex have been "particularly painful". “We believe that participating in a strike or demonstration cannot be a crime,” they explained. In his view, this new “attempt at criminalization against the working class” is not a coincidence, but a “political decision”.

They accuse the Basque Government of aligning itself in favor of companies, “putting the Ertzaintza in their hands, as if it were private security.” They have also regretted that labour conflicts are treated as “an action against public order”: “they have shown that for them the right to demonstrate or strike is an act that must be controlled, not a right to protect”.

They have also denounced the use of the Moorish law, in the understanding that it is being used to implement sanctions that cannot be achieved by criminal judicial means. “This law should already be repealed in Congress.”

Fines and trials

Tubacex workers, works councils or citizens who participated in the protests have been fined with thousands of euros since the end of the labour dispute in Tubacex. In addition, there are a number of people accused of public disorder or attack on authority.