LAB said on Thursday that “failure to comply with the convention is the daily bread in construction”. After inspecting several works, the union members have decided to report to the Labour Inspectorate the four works of Gipuzkoa, accused of violating the country pact.

Two of these works are public. One of them is the section where the high-speed train crosses the lands of Arrasate, Elorrio and Bergara. In it, LAB considers that although workers register eight-hour days, “eleven hours a day”. The union considers that this irregular conduct constitutes "a crime of documentary falsehood" and therefore believes that it could incur crime.

The other public work reported is the renovation of the facade of the Hacienda de Gipuzkoa building. The work was awarded to an Alavesa company by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, Indenort S.L. Indenort, meanwhile, subcontracted another Basque company, Euskogres SL. However, LAB has warned that the Bizkaia construction agreement applies to workers.

The Labour Inspectorate has also denounced the construction of a nursing home in the Donostia district of Igara and that of several homes in Astigarraga. Behind these two subcontracts are those of Burgos and Madrid, which have their own agreements.

Subcontracting

As a result of the evasion of the collective agreement, “the minimum wage to be paid by workers is not respected”. LAB points to the common root of the four complaints: subcontracting to lower costs. The union considers that the public institutions are "responsible for the non-compliance" of the convention, i.e. the Basque Government and the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa.