The Aiaraldea Industry Bureau presents the conclusions of a reflection process that has lasted at least a month

In accordance with these conclusions, it is necessary to harness existing industrial knowledge and move towards diversificationin order to incorporate new activities and sectors into the future.

The agreed report proposes innovation more closely linked to the real needs of companies and more involved by SMEs , as well as strengthening cooperation between large companies, SMEs, technology centres and training centres.

Digitization, the incorporation of artificial intelligence into management and production processes, andthe search for new solutions to decarbonization, energy efficiency and circular economy are also identified as major challenges.

The Bureau has also placed 'talent ' as one of the main challenges for the industrial future of Aiaraldea. The ageing of the workforce and the need to manage generational relay coincide with the "growing difficulty" of incorporating people with technical profiles and skills associated with new digital and technological processes.

The conclusions refer to strengthening cooperation between companies and vocational training centres and universities, adapting training to the present and future needs of the industry and developing new, more flexible learning formats.

The diagnosis also reveals that the available supply of land is "scarce and fragmented" and that some currently disused industrial spaces do not meet the requirements for new activities.

The Bureau considers it necessary to move towards new management mechanisms with a regional approach, prioritising the recovery of existing soil and industrial spaces, and analysing the needs of new developments.

Complex working relationships

The diagnosis also acknowledges the complexity of the situation in labour relations and the high levels of mistrust and distance between companies and trade unions .

Faced with this, it proposes moving towards a model of permanent dialogue based on real negotiation, trust, transparency and staff participation .

The initiatives identified during the process include the creation of an industrial Social Pact , a regional industrial development structure, the consolidation of the Bureau as a permanent meeting point and the development of a specific communication strategy on the Aiaraldea industry.

These proposals should be analysed and concretized in a collaborative manner at the next stages of work, and the report defines them as a guide for further elaboration.

CC.OO. welcomes the report of conclusions but support is not a "blank cheque" 

CC.OO. of the Basque Country has been the first trade union to make a public assessment of the report of conclusions. CC.OO. has welcomed the document, but has made it clear that today's meeting "is not the end of the debate, but the beginning of a process of improving the industrial situation in Aiaraldea".

In a statement, the union has advocated "the use of as many spaces as possible to influence the social and labour conditions of workers and improve their living conditions" and added that supporting this document du does not mean that it is a "blank cheque" to support all measures that may be considered in the future, since it will advocate that all of them be aimed at achieving a "fair" transformation in the region, so that workers and citizens of Ayala can see their situation improved "without paying for the measures taken".

Each other does not share the conclusions of the Bureau but will remain in the forum.

Elkarrekin has not signed the report of conclusions of the Aiaraldea Industrial Development Bureau because "the document does not adequately assess the working class in the region and does not adequately address the concept of industrial land use", but they will remain in the Bureau "out of regional and citizen responsibility" to "defend the rights of the working class and continue to work for the future of the area".