“Social change will only come about through political, social and trade union confrontation”

ALS is facing the May 1 this year under the motto ‘Antolatu, borrokatu, irabazi (Organize, Fight, Win)’, ideas that summarize a clear and direct message. This is how the union’s general secretary summed it up Mitxel Lakuntza at the press conference held today in Bilbao together with another member of the union board Anne Zelaia.

The Secretary-General recalled that there are four main issues that summarize the socio-economic situation: the increase in corporate profits, the deterioration of working and living conditions of the class, the complicity of governments and the lack of opposition and alternative proposals from institutional left. .

Faced with this reality, Lakuntza defends a radically different orientation of public policy. “The only coherent position to achieve social change is through a political, social and trade union confrontation against the interests of employers and economic power. Avoiding this confrontation means avoiding the changes the working class needs,” he said.

According to Lakuntza, “consensus must be produced in the space of the left in opposition to current policies, to defend a social, feminist and ecological alternative.”

“The achievements for the working class come neither from the institutions nor from the tables of social dialogue; only collective organization and the trade union struggle allow us to make progress,” Lakuntza emphasized, concluding by adding that “the conclusion is clear: more trade union struggle and more strikes, more and better agreements.

For her part, Ane Zelaia recalled that May 1 “is an annual event to imagine and commit to a better world,” and to do that “we must be aware of the tragic consequences caused by a capitalist , heteropatriarchal and racist system”.

For this reason, ELA calls for participation in the May 1 demonstrations in Bilbao and Iruña (11:30 am, from Sagrado Corazón and Plaza de la Cruz).