Pello Igeregi, Arantxa Vazquez, Iker Salaberria
02-10-2021, BERRIA.
Abstract:
The article signed by two representatives of the Basque nationalist unions ELA and LAB, the main unions in the Iberian Basque Country, puts up a proposal to spread Basque language in the labour environment and the domain of trade.
The gist of the proposal states that companies with a workforce amounting to over 50 people should negotiate a plan for Basque-language use, integrating it also in the inter-professional agreement.
The authors remind us that we are in for deep changes in the socio-economic arena. The next two decades half of the workers will fall in the age of retirement, with a new generation arriving, better acquainted with the Basque language. That presents us with an excellent opportunity to bring Basque language to the socio-economic domain.
Instead, if no right measures are taken, the socio-economic domain may reinforce Spanish in that generation. Accordingly, both unionists note that influencing the language policy is a must in order to prompt a qualitative leap forward.
