The Basque Government has convened a social dialogue table for the first week of December. The government, employers and trade unions would be the main protagonists of the day. However, there has been a serious event in recent days and the Basque Government should suspend the Bureau. ELA and LAB have had access to a document prepared by Confesbask in which the employers propose that both unions can be removed from the register of trade union organisations if they continue with the opinions and activities “outside the labour market”. The document has been rejected by Confesbask, while the unions have pointed out that it is the author of the document. It appears that this is a contribution by the Basque Business Confederation to a project that the Spanish Government is carrying out around trade union and employer organisations. If confirmed, it would be an attempt to outlaw all the trade unions that they claim to be sovereign. ELA has not fallen into exaggeration when he has described Confesbask as a “coup”.

In this context, the social dialogue table should be suspended, especially when the ELA and LAB trade unions have shown their rejection of it. That can be used as an alibi to outlaw the Basque trade unions, while sitting with an employer who aims to outlaw the Basque trade unions would be a blow to that goal. The Basque Government and the other trade unions should take account of the situation and, if it does not change their position, they would leave Confesbask alone. The current problems in the Basque Country are very serious: youth unemployment – more than half of young people have no jobs and no future – and that of those over the age of 45, for example. We are in a position to outlaw ELA and LAB, which make up the majority of trade unions… Confesbask should clarify this issue with concrete measures, not just words.