ELA has reached an agreement with H&M to not apply the dismissals agreed upon by the company, CCOO and UGT in Hego Euskal Herria (South Basque Country)

The titanic fight by the workers from the company in the centres in Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Nafarroa, which was not seconded by CCOO and UGT, has made the company reconsider several of its decisions. In the first place, it withdrew its proposal to dismiss workers with contracts of more than 30 hours a week, with the right to conciliation; today these dismissals and the substantial working modifications that were foreseen in the centres in the three territories of the Autonomous Basque Country and Navarra have been withdrawn.

With the signing of this agreement, ELA undertakes to call off the strike and to restart the activity in the centres affected by it. ELA congratulates the workers for their fight against the Swedish company H&M, defending their jobs and their working conditions.

The fight is now more necessary than ever in commerce, because the large textile companies are using a strategy that is clearly orientated at the maximisation of profits and the promotion of online sales, putting the workers in the sector to one side. This business policy is destroying many jobs. According to the data published by the company itself, H&M invoiced 21,988 million euros in 2019 and obtained a profit of 1,270 million euros; 6.3% more than the previous year; the nationwide employment regulation signed contemplates the destruction of 920 jobs and the closure of 26 stores around the country.