Basque Workers' Solidarity
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| Full name | Basque Workers' Solidarity |
|---|---|
| Native name | Eusko Langileen Alkartasuna |
| Founded | 1911 |
| Members | 109,000 |
| Affiliation | ITUC, ETUC |
| Key people |
José Miguel Leunda Etxeberria, president José Elorrieta Aurrekoetxea, secretary general |
| Office location | Bilbao |
| Country | Spain |
| Website | www.ela-sindikatua.eus |
Basque Workers' Solidarity (in Basque: Eusko Langileen Alkartasuna (ELA), in Spanish: Solidaridad de Trabajadores Vascos(STV)) is the most influential trade union in Basque Country, having been created, as Solidaridad de Obreros Vascos, by members of the Basque Nationalist Party on June 10, 1911, in Bilbao.
It has been opposed to the influence of trade unions who appealed to a working class ethos (Socialist UGT and Anarchist CNT), advocating instead a 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 and Biscay than in Navarre and Álava.
ELA-STV was caught in the fighting of the Spanish Civil War, and banned by the Franco dictatorship. It reemerged in 1976, during the transition to democracy. Today, it has over 100,000 members.
