This year the Biscayan metallurgy has called for a third strike. On Friday, 25 November, the Basque employers' association FVEM and the trade unions ELA, LAB, CCOO and UGT met at the headquarters of the Bilbao Council for Labour Relations, but they did not reach an agreement and the unions convened five days of strike from 28 November to 2 December. Until Friday, therefore, the sector will be on strike.

In total, 56,000 workers are called for strike, and according to data from LAB, CCOO and UGT, the first day of strike has been followed by 85%. These three unions form a group in the negotiation of the labour agreement, with 59% of representatives, and the other group is the ELA union, with 40% of representatives. Everyone makes their own call for a strike.

Examples of the great protection that the strike has had on the first day are, for example, the absolute strike in the Duranguesado or the lack of access to the Tubular Products (Valley of Tragpay–Trapagaran) plant on the pickets carried out today in the Left Margin.

Insufficient employers' proposal

The employers convened last Friday to meet with the unions to announce their negotiating proposal. However, according to the ELA union, this proposal was "closed and insufficient", and in the same vein, the unions LAB, UGT and CCOO also manifested their insufficiency. The FVEM did not allow them to speak beyond their last proposal, and the unions did not agree.

The employers accuse the unions of being irresponsible, understanding that what they have called is an "unjustified" strike. According to him, the latest proposal presented improves the metal agreement recently signed by LAB, CCOO and UGT with the management company SEA in Álava, so "it cannot be understood how they say that the Bizkaia proposal is not enough".

These three trade unions recognise that there is progress in the final proposal, but consider that it is still short. For example, they indicate that it remains "without ensuring immediate increases in CPI or providing guarantees of implementation". In the protests they see the possibility of making more achievements:"The trade union majority is clear that the employer's movements in recent days are the result of the mobilisations made so far and the successful strike days. This shows that we are on the right track and that it is time to remain firmly on the five-day strike called."