Confebask, along with various business organisations, has released a joint declaration titled the Pact for the Competitive Transformation and Future Wellbeing of Euskadi. The document outlines the challenges facing society and emphasises the need for consensus to address these issues. It aims to ensure the profitability of companies amid international economic uncertainty impacting the Basque Autonomous Community (CAPV).
However, the ELA trade union argues that the assertion made by Confebask and other business groups—that economic growth and improved competitiveness automatically lead to greater social wellbeing—is misleading. “For decades, economic growth has resulted in an increasingly unjust distribution of wealth, where companies enjoy substantial profits while the working class struggles to maintain their purchasing power,” lamented the union.
In Hego Euskal Herria, the profit margin for companies has risen from 7.5% in 2015 to 13.2% in 2024. Additionally, large corporations, particularly in the energy and banking sectors, continue to record unprecedented profits. In contrast, wages have seen a decline in their share of the economy, dropping from 49.2% of GDP in 2008 to 47.5% in 2024.
The document addresses future challenges such as demographic changes, social wellbeing, and social cohesion, but ELA criticises it for neglecting the importance of quality public services and a robust care system to tackle these issues. The union stresses the need for increased public revenue through tax reforms that would place a greater burden on capital income and corporations. “Business organisations aim to continue using taxation for corporate benefit,” the union remarked.
