- On 13 December, thousands of people went to the streets in Bilbao, Donostia-San Sebastián and Vitoria-Gasteiz to ask the Basque Government for social, participatory and sovereign budgets. After mobilizing in Navarre in November, it was the last milestone of the mobilizing dynamic initiated in the CAV, before the Basque Government presented the CAV budget project on 17 December.
The ELA trade union has made this reading on its website: "The health crisis has made it clear that the system that had been in place does not work, accelerating/accelerating structural and diverse crises: crisis of care, crisis of labor relations, crisis of the development model, crisis of social protection... For this reason, the Charter of Social Rights of the Basque Country calls for a new normality, a new model that guarantees the rights of all citizens. The essence of the system that does not work lies at the heart of the measures being taken by Governments to respond to the health crisis. Therefore, the deficiencies that already existed will not be solved and repeated, leaving citizenship unprotected in this context of emergency".
Today we have come out on the street in Gasteiz, Bilbo and Donostia ✅ Distribute good, guarantee rights, develop public services! ❤️ #FirstLife ❤️ pic.twitter.com/BzRtGgk10v
— EH Social Rights Charter (@Social Rights Charter) December 13, 2020
Following the demonstration in Bilbao, Garbiñe Aranburu of the LAB trade union stressed the following: "In recent months, the system's shortcomings have become clearer than ever, and it has become clearer than ever that capitalism is the greatest enemy of life. We need a new model."
Following the demonstration of Donostia-San Sebastian, Iker Eizagirre, from the Olatukoop network of the transformative social economy, stressed: "Euskal Herria has and must have the capacity to reclaim a socio-economic model of closeness, sovereign and democratic, which he has". Until everything is everybody's! ".
ELA member Mitxel Lakuntza made these statements after the demonstration in Bilbao: "They will not strengthen public services, they will not be useful in dealing with the economic and social consequences of the pandemic or in moving towards a more sustainable productive model. These budgets are out of reality."
Seven "priority" claims
The Charter of Social Rights has served to bring to the table various mobilisations "7 priority demands that put the life and needs of citizens at the centre". For the letter, it is urgent that both the budgets of the CAV and those of Navarra provide for specific items, processes and resources to guarantee these priorities. Here you can read the seven demands.
Very different budgets are not expected by 2021
The Basque Government will send the draft budget to the Basque Parliament on 17 December. The conveners of the events announce that the 2021 budgets will be very similar to those of 2020. "I mean, they're going to be a continuous budget, like nothing happened, like nothing happened. These budgets do not meet the priority needs of citizens: they will not develop public services, they will not strengthen social protection, they will not guarantee quality employment and they will not take steps towards a public care system".