Basque Workers' Solidarity

{{Short description|Trade union in Spain}} {{Expand Spanish|date=December 2021}}{{Infobox union |name = ELA |location = [[Spain]] |affiliations = [[International Trade Union Confederation|ITUC]], [[ETUC]] |num_members = Members: 105,312<ref>[http://www.ela.eus/es/actualidad/noticias/ela-cuenta-con-105.312-afiliados-y-afiliadas 2012]</ref><br />Labor delegates/representatives: 7,049 (40.44%) in the [[Basque Autonomous Community]]<ref>[http://www.elmundo.es/pais-vasco/2017/04/30/59063824e5fdeaeb2e8b45ae.html ELA copa cuatro de cada diez delegados sindicales vascos]. El Mundo, 30/04/2017.</ref> and 1,359 (22.74%) in [[Navarre]].<ref>[http://www.noticiasdenavarra.com/2017/01/27/economia/ela-se-aproxima-a-ugt-y-ccoo-que-ya-no-suman-el-50-de-la-representatividad ELA se aproxima a UGT y CCOO, que ya no suman el 50% de la representatividad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927155514/http://www.noticiasdenavarra.com/2017/01/27/economia/ela-se-aproxima-a-ugt-y-ccoo-que-ya-no-suman-el-50-de-la-representatividad |date=2017-09-27 }}. Noticias de Navarra, 27/01/2017.</ref> |full_name = Basque Workers' Solidarity |native_name = Eusko Langileen Alkartasuna |image = ELAlogo.png |founded = 1911 |dissolved = |merged_into = |headquarters = [[Bilbao]] |key_people = [[José Miguel Leunda Etxeberria]], president <br /> [[José Elorrieta Aurrekoetxea]], secretary general |website = [https://www.ela.eus/en/ https://www.ela.eus/en] |footnotes = }}

'''Basque Workers' Solidarity''' (in [[Basque language|Basque]]: ''Eusko Langileen Alkartasuna'' (ELA), in [[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''Solidaridad de Trabajadores Vascos'' (STV)) is the most influential [[trade union]] in the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country]], having been created, as ''Solidaridad de Obreros Vascos'', by members of the [[Basque Nationalist Party]] on June 10, 1911, in [[Bilbao]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.euskonews.com/0036zbk/efem3601.html | title=Efemerideak }}</ref>

==History== [[File:Ela-stv.jpg|right|thumb|ELA-STV publication from 1971]] It was opposed to the influence of trade unions who appealed to a [[working class]] [[ethos]] ([[Socialist]] [[Unión General de Trabajadores|UGT]] and [[Anarchist]] [[Confederación Nacional del Trabajo|CNT]]), advocating instead a [[Basque nationalism|Basque nationalist]] outlook. Initially, ELA-STV was centered on projects of [[mutual assistance]] between its affiliates, as a vehicle for [[social security]]. It expanded with much more success in [[Guipúzcoa|Gipuzkoa]] and [[Biscay]] than in [[Navarre]] and [[Álava]].

ELA-STV was caught in the fighting of the [[Spanish Civil War]], and banned by the [[Francoist State]]. It reemerged in 1976, during the [[Spanish transition to democracy|transition to democracy]]. Today, it has over 105,000 members.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022|reason=No date given}}

In the 70's ELA abandoned its original [[christian democracy|social-christian]] ideology in favour of more [[Socialism|socialist]] positions, recognizing the importance and validity of the [[class struggle]], breaking with the [[Basque Nationalist Party]] (EAJ/PNV) and approaching [[LAB (Basque union)|LAB]], a union within the [[abertzale left]].

In the General Congress of 1976 ELA-STV approved the new principles and rules of the union, which will become its identity: ELA was a [[Basque people|Basque]] national and [[Working class|class union]], independent from all political parties, open to all workers of [[Euskal Herria]], with economic independence (funding only through membership fees, and not accepting public money), incompatibility of positions, confederal basis, creating a common [[strike fund]], international solidarity, etc. This line will be ratified and will gain further in the coming Congress. During the transition, ELA opposed the [[Moncloa Pacts]]. The pro-[[Basque Nationalist Party|PNV]] and anti-socialist wing of the union split and formed [[Eusko Langillen Alkartasuna (Askatuta) – Solidaridad de Trabajadores Vascos (Independiente)]] (ELA (a)-STV (i)), which would disappear in 1990.

==Strike fund== ELA's strike fund is unusual in Spanish unionism. Only [[Unión Sindical Obrera|USO]] among the main Spanish unions provides one. According to ELA,<ref name="ElDiario">{{cite news |last1=Guenaga |first1=Aitor |title=Y 38 años después, la Hacienda vizcaína descubre la 'caja de resistencia' de ELA |url=https://www.eldiario.es/euskadi/euskadi/hacienda-bizkaia-investiga-sindicatos-caja-de-resistencia-ela-diputacion-euskadi_1_2799464.html |access-date=3 February 2022 |work=ElDiario.es |date=10 February 2018 |language=es}}</ref> the fund received 13.7 million euros between 2008 and 2011, 15.1% of its expenses, and 19.1 M€ between 2012 and 2016 (16,24%).

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Portal|Organized labour}}

[[Category:1911 establishments in Spain]] [[Category:Basque politics]] [[Category:National trade union centers of Spain]] [[Category:International Trade Union Confederation]] [[Category:European Trade Union Confederation]] [[Category:Trade unions established in 1911]] [[Category:Organisations based in Bilbao]]