January is often a time of sale and special offers in many shops, but textile workers have not been changed working conditions and continue to make part-time work and receive low wages. Since last December, workers in this feminized sector have been struggling to assert their rights.
In Gipuzkoa, the strike began on 28 December by textile workers and will last until Saturday at least. ELA criticizes the employers in the sector, the Association of Traders of Gipuzkoa and Adegi, because they have not renewed the employment agreement affecting 2,700 workers, so that workers work in precarious conditions, with an "imbalance of temporality". Textile workers are calling for a wage increase in line with the CPI and an end to bias.
The textile representative of ELA, Amaia Graffiti, explained to the Berria newspaper that since 15 December the unions and the two employers have not met to discuss the agreement and the latter are "blocking" the negotiation.
ELA has assured that despite the fact that no follow-up data has been provided on the strike, a significant impact is occurring, with a majority of the representation in Gipuzkoa, and that there are completely closed shops.
Not only in Gipuzkoa, but also in Navarra, the 18 H&M workers at the La Morea shopping centre have been fighting since 9 December. They indicate that workers only charge EUR 1,000 for the 8-hour and EUR 500 work part-time. The workers want to force the management of the company to negotiate an undertaking agreement in the area of Navarra, but they have not yet met with strikers
Wages in the textile sector have been frozen since 2009 and ELA estimates that since then they have lost 17% of their purchasing power.
November 19 is World Bathing Day. Even today, in the twenty-first century, many workers here in the Basque Country do not have the right to use the toilet in their working days. Many transport workers are an example of this.
Toilets are the key to public health and play a... [+]