strike in the catering industry in Bizkaia on October 4, 11 and 12

The unions ELA, LAB, CC. OO. and UGT have declared a three-day strike in the catering industry in Bizkaia for the coming October 4, 11 and 12. The unions have denounced that the negotiating table remains blocked and that there has been no movement at the Bizkaia Hospitality Association since the last strikes in June, “despite the fact that the last meeting was in February.”

“The Bizkaia Hospitality Association has a completely irresponsible attitude and is leading workers in the sector to a dead end, where mobilization is the only possible alternative to meet their demands,” the unions said in a joint press release.

This new phase of mobilizations will start earlier with a meeting on September 26 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. in front of the Bizkaia Hospitality Association in Bilbao.

The unions have assured that salaries have not been increased since 2020 and that ERTE has “become our daily life” since the pandemic.

Finally, they recalled that this agreement also affects the collective sector, a “precarious” sector, in which the vast majority of workers “are women, with precarious contracts and part-time work”, and with a significant workload.

Meanwhile, the convening unions continue, “employers refuse to negotiate their own agreement, even though we on the social side demand the improvement of their conditions, and we join the struggle for an agreement that today does not meet their needs or reflects concerns.”

According to them, companies in the sector “intend to increase their profit margins, at the cost of sacrificing workers, and continue with their intention to make us pay the bill created by Covid 19. We are not going to agree to that,” they added.