51,000 people endorse the PLI against poverty and social exclusion

Oct 17, 2018
Representatives of Euskal Herria’s Charter of Social Rights, composed of the Basque trade union majority and different organisations and social bodies, have delivered the 51,000 signatures that endorse the Popular Legislative Initiative (PLI) against poverty and social exclusion to the Basque Government.

This PLI sets forth the need to modify the Law 18/2008 on Guarantee of Income and the Law 3/2005 on Housing to include the following steps:

  1. Dropping the required age to access the Guaranteed Income from 23 to 18 years of age. Also for those under the age of 18 in situations of particular need.

  2. Dropping the census registration requirement from 3 years to 1 year.

  3. Acknowledgement of each and every one of the cohabitation units in the same household.

  4. Right to the Guaranteed Income for each of the cohabitation units without this number being restricted due to the fact of residing in the same household.

  5. Increasing the amount of the Guaranteed Income that is also used to complement low pensions and salaries taking the GMW as a reference:

  6. 100% of the guaranteed minimum wage for the individual cohabitation units.

  7. 150% of the guaranteed minimum wage for the cohabitation units of two people.

  8. 200% of the minimum inter-professional wage for the cohabitation units of three or more people.

  9. Making Emergency Social Assistance (ESA) into a subjective right to ensure that this is granted without depending on the budgetary possibilities, but rather on the needs to which it should respond.

  10. Guaranteeing the effective right to social rented housing without an economic provision being able to replace this.

A popular legislative initiative is an instrument that attempts to provide a channel for social and citizen participation. To do this, the Charter requires the parliamentary groups to admit the PLI to procedure and start debating its contents. From a democratic point of view, it would be totally unacceptable for this social work, endorsed by 51,000 people to be thrown out.

To tackle all these topics, the Charter has announced its intention to open up a round of talks with the different parliamentary groups.