Click. I'm on the internet. I can start a limitless journey in a second account. After spending the day running and quickly from one side to the other, more and more of us end our day looking at a screen. We take advantage of the calm provided by the softening of the couch to do things that we have not been able to do in the time that has let us escape by living at a frenetic pace: consult some information, tie the plan for the weekend and, on other occasions, buy something online. The development of technology has always been related to progress, comfort and improvement, but not all of them are advantages, they also have their risks and are few. There's the digital divide, there's the risk of isolation and the reactivation of individualism, the lack of control to be controlled there, the precariousness of working conditions.

Pulling the thread of precariousness, I am led by the impact that digitalisation is having on working conditions in trade. In recent times in ELA we have had to live very closely the transformation processes that have been put in place by several multinationals. The model of consumption based on capitalist logic has been deeply rooted in our society for years. Fashion commands and yesterday's fashion is old. More recently, since the pandemic has shaped our lives, this logic has been accentuated and, as far as the consumption model is concerned, the increase in online sales has been terrible. According to the 2020 report of the National Commission on Markets and Competition, the retail trade in goods increased by 53% compared to 2019, while in the same period the retail trade fell by 7.9%. 51% of online purchases come from foreign companies, which in computers and textiles reaches 90%. The weight of e-commerce over the last decade has increased tenfold and, according to all forecasts, will continue to grow in the coming years. Inditex, for example, wants 25% of its sales to be online by 2025. Ecommerce, omnicanality, shop windows, self-works boxes and other terms are used as undisputed business strategies in the mouths of the general directors of the sector. And that strategy doesn't turn back, that's undeniable. But there's something to discuss, there's something to think about. With digitisation a number of jobs will be destroyed and, in view of this, the time has come to share the first spoiler of the title question: in trade there is no one left, says ELA.

Groups such as Inditex, Douglas, H&M, Tendam Retail (Cortefaithful) have already carried out the first stage of digitalization transformation (we say the first because this transformation has only just begun). The shops have closed, destroyed jobs or even more precarious. The most disappointing thing is that they have done so with the consensus of the state unions. Another point: this digitalization model has a gender impact. The commercial sector is highly feminized and most jobs have been part-time for a long time. However, they wanted to take advantage of these processes to make the few jobs part-time completo.Todo while accumulating huge profits (Inditex 3.5 billion and H&M 1.2 billion in 2019). Second spoiler: the remaining ones are the benefits. Because it is time to reach out to the workers who make the benefits possible. In fact, new jobs are going to be created, but surely they will not be as many as they are going to be destroyed, so the key is in the working conditions that are going to have the jobs that are created and that are being maintained.

ELA is clear that for this transition to have guarantees for workers, the path is organisation, struggle and collective bargaining. At H&M we went on a 55-day strike and managed to condition a procedure at the state level. On June 25, ELA and LAB called a strike at the CAV (the first at the state level) to demand a new digitalization model. We have also defined the next steps to take. In some commercial agreements ELA has a large majority and through collective bargaining we want to anticipate the situation. On the one hand, we will have to regulate the new categories and ensure that these posts are covered by the conventions of the countries; on the other hand, we want to establish minimum working hours to curb the increase in bias; and, on the other hand, significantly reduce the annual working hours in companies where online invoicing weighs. The latter, the reduction in working hours, is fundamental for the transformation of digitisation not to occur at the expense of employment. If companies are going to multiply their profits through online sales, what better than having more time for personal life in these rush times.

Once you talk about personal life, you have to say that the effects of digitalisation don't run out in the world of work, but they extend to different areas of life. From an ecological point of view, for example, we are creating an unsustainable ecological footprint by transporting the goods we buy abroad. As regards the use of language, it is also essential to adopt measures to ensure people’s linguistic rights. The model of towns and neighbourhoods and the relationship with the public will be affected by the closure of shops (large brands will close to gain more and small traders cannot compete in these conditions). We have already anticipated what is left of it, but what is left of it? First of all, public intervention is lacking. While this is happening, the Basque and Navarro governments cannot look the other way, designing a strategy to bring Basque producers and consumers into direct contact is a matter of political responsibility. There is also a lack of space to reflect as a society on all this, and different agents are/are committed to filling that gap.

This opinion article and today end hand in hand. Today's will be no exception, I will end the day looking at the screen on the balm of the couch; but I will not make an online redemption, I will take the space to read the first manifesto of Euskal Herria Digitala, led by the foundations IPES, Olatukoop, TEKS, Ipar-Hegoa, Iratzar and Mangibles-Roblesz. On 15 October, it appears that a day will be organised to promote public debate on cybersovereignty in the Basque Country. There I will be. “Sign the manifesto.” Click.

* Mirari Irure Espín is responsible for ELA-Zerbitzuak.