The Basque confederation ELA (Eusko Langileen Alkartasuna - "Solidarity of Basque
workers") today engages the highest level of conflict in Europe. At a time whenmany workers are returning to the strike, the ELA model and its confederalinstructions constitute a salutary light for the future of mass and classunionism, in the service of social revolution. ---- It was created in 1911, thenrebuilt at the end of Francoism in 1976, affirming its nationalist, socialist andclass nature. ELA now claims 100,000 members (journalists have full latitude toverify its veracity), almost 10% of the working population, i.e. a rate fivetimes higher than the CGT in France. It is as if the latter had, in France, 2.5million members.It is the first organization in terms of representativeness, more than 41% inthree provinces (Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa), and 23% in Nafarroa. Its tradeunion model is original, by its internal structuring, but also by its strike fund(caja de resistencia) which allows it to win long strikes, in particular infeminized sectors.Financial and political independenceELA claims its political and ideological independence from political parties, andseveral measures have been taken to prevent the use of the union by politicalfactions as much as possible. Another pillar of its union model is its financialindependence. Very high since its reconstruction, it progressed gradually. Fromnow on, its budget, which concerns all the structures, is financed up to 93% bymembership fees alone.ELA defines itself as a counter-power union, in total opposition to the unionmodel of social consultation of the two major organizations of the Spanish State,the UGT (Unión General de Trabajadores) and the CCOO (Comisiones Obreras), whichlive under financial infusion, notably from the State, and sign all socialsetback agreements.In 2021, strikes in the autonomous community of the three provinces of Araba,Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa represented 42% of the total number of strikes in theSpanish state, and 45% of the number of strike days. While the number ofemployees there represents only 5% of this State ! This is the highest level ofconflict in Europe.The strike is the central means of union action, and its importance for ELA isdue to three main reasons. Some victories are not possible without a strike. Itsends the message to employers, public and private, that the union will not backdown. It creates a precedent, both for employees and for employers. Finally,because it reinforces class identity.High contribution and strike fundAnother pillar of the ELA model is the high level of membership fees. Choice madein 1976, it is consistent with the other principles of the confederation.Currently it is 23 euros for 80% of members. It has been demonstrated that a highcontribution is not an obstacle to mass membership (even though the tax deductionis only 20%). A quarter of the membership fee goes into the strike fund.The union continues to fight alongside Basque workers, accompanying them in manyvictories.This is then able to hold long strikes, from several months to two years, or evenmore. A key advocacy objective of ELA is the fight against the "wage gap" betweenwomen and men, such as in the cleaning, home help, retirement homes and tradesectors. Targeted strikes to win company or branch agreements lead to victoriesthat then build trust in the union. This increases the level of membership andmilitancy, and feeds the strike fund.ELA decided to create one in 1976. There are three levels of strike pay. Thefirst, called ordinary, guarantees up to 105% of the minimum interprofessionalwage (SMI). The second, called reinforced, covers up to 121% of the SMI. To betriggered, at least 35% of employees must be union members. The third, calledextraordinary, covers up to 210% of the SMI. Here, it is necessary that at least30% of the employees are members of the union, that at least 75% of them agree togo on strike, and that the strike be considered as strategic interest for ELA,which is the case of feminized and precarious sectors.ELA regularly clashes with political institutions that privatize many activities,where it proves its political independence. The adversary is then often thehistorical party of Basque bourgeois nationalism, the PNV (Partido NacionalistaVasco), strongly established in these institutions. In 2018, the tax authoritiestried to break the strike fund by declaring strike pay taxable. But ELA adaptedto this attack.A union model to studyIt is not a question of copying the model of ELA so that the trade unionorganizations of struggle in France see their level of membership increase as ifby magic. ELA has been able to lay solid foundations and constantly evolve itsinternal structures so that they adapt to the reality of the workforce and meetthe objectives of the demands.ELA is a compact confederation in its structure, with a strong culture ofeffective interprofessional solidarity. Where the CGT and Solidaires are failing.On the basis of the union sections, the federations (reduced to three) and thelocal unions form the twelve inter-professional unions where unionization inVSEs-SMEs is a particular priority.In 2014, ELA began a reflection against the internal reproduction of patriarchalpatterns of its functioning and in its consideration of women's claims. Thisleads in 2022 to a strategic plan on the subject, actually implemented, where allstructures and activities must effectively evolve to really become what shewants: a feminist union.Constantly questioning and acting on what only depends on the union itself, isthe first lesson to be learned from this original union experience. We wouldalready take a big step !Louise (UCL Saint-Denis), Michel (UCL Vosges) and Roger Boivin (UCL Rennes)https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Euskadi-Sud-Caisse-de-greve-arme-du-syndicat-ELA_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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