The first inter-congress meeting of the LAB union is completed with the participation of more than 400 delegates from all over the country, complying with strict security measures. We are a strong and cohesive union for the future challenges for the working class. In this inter-congress we have denounced that capitalism is the real virus. Capitalism leads the working class into a coma” Politics is focused on the economic elite, and they want the consequences of the crisis to fall back on the workers.

In this first inter-congress we have dealt with the decisions that were left pending in the 9th congress held by the LAB in 2017 and we have addressed the necessary debates to face the future challenges of the Basque working class.

In this sense we have stressed the need to weave social-trade union fronts that unite the union struggles with social struggles and help to multiply them by giving the union struggles a social dimension. To this end, it is necessary to join forces among all the agents who are committed to a programme of transformation.

We have stressed the need to recognise all jobs and to ensure decent employment. A democratization of labour relations is necessary, and a Basque Labour Code is urgently needed to stop the destruction of employment and to distribute and dignify work.

General Secretary Garbiñe Aranburu has also called for a law on social security and social protection; to improve the pension system and to repeal the reforms of recent years. A law that guarantees a public pension system for all, that guarantees decent employment for all citizens and if this is not the case, citizens will have the right to receive a decent basic income, and that guarantees a social protection system that addresses basic needs such as housing or food must be guaranteed to all workers.

Capitalism constantly seeks the concentration of capital, condemns millions of people to poverty and exclusion, perpetuates the oppression of women and, as if that were not enough, puts the ecosystem that makes life possible at risk. The capitalist system is inhumane, hetero-patriarchal and ecocide.

The unions that are part of the World Federation of Trade Unions know this very well. And at the same time we know that to build an alternative to capitalism, two struggles must come together. On the one hand the struggle that has to be carried out by the working class of each people so that each people is master of its future without any imperialist intervention; so that all citizens have a life and work that is worthwhile. And on the other hand the struggle that all peoples have to do together in order to create a world based on fraternal relations between the peoples.

You cannot go all the way in these two struggles without advancing in both struggles. It is complicated to build a socialist and feminist republic if we don’t transform the international order, and it will be difficult to build a new international order if we don’t use processes of transformation from the top to the bottom and from the peoples.

Therefore, on the 75th anniversary of the birth of the World Federation of Trade Unions, the LAB trade union reaffirms its commitment in 2004. We are proud to have shared 16 years of struggle for political and social transformation with trade unions from all over the world. We are proud and proud to share fraternity with the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba, with Palestinian unions, with Brazilian unions, with the Federation of Trade Unions of Vietnam, with the South African trade union movement that gave so much in the struggle against apartheid; and of course to share bags with the unions of stateless nations with whom we share the Coordinadora de los pueblos. In general we can proclaim our pride in sharing struggles with the unions that represent the oppressed in the world, but above all we are very proud to be the representatives of the Basque working class in the World Federation of Trade Unions.

Of course we still have a lot of work to do in the future both in Europe and worldwide. For our part we will continue to make our small contribution to the struggle for political and social transformation. May this 75th anniversary serve to give new impetus to the World Federation of Trade Unions.

Long live for LAB!

Long live for the World Federation of Trade Unions!

Congratulations and let’s go!