16th of November
2000
On Thursday 16th November 2000, IRIZAR received the Txemi
Cantera Award for Social Economy. The Basque Government
Minister for Justice and Tourism, Sabin Intxaurraga, and
Txemi Cantera’s widow, Sol Agirre (Honorary President
of the Jury) amongst others, were present at the prize-giving
ceremony, which was held in the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao.
In his speech of thanks, Koldo Saratxaga also explained
the key to success, acknowledging each of the people
forming part of the IRIZAR project and who have played a leading
part in its accomplishment.
65 people from IRIZAR attended the ceremony in representation
of the whole of the staff.
José Miguel Cantera Sojo, TXEMI CANTERA, was born
in Bilbao on the 9th of March, 1950. His life was characterised
by an intense activity, until his death on the 16th of
March, 1991.
He obtained a degree in Economics at the Sarriko Faculty
of the University of the Basque Country, and through his
involvement with the union and business counselling he
came to have militant links with the Social Economy.
He dedicated his life to service to others, on a basis
of solidarity and cooperation. In the words of José María
Arizmendiarrieta, the ideological mainstay of Mondragón’s
co-operative development, “if we are to speak of
cooperation, and if the idea is to become fixed in men’s
minds, these must be men for whom values exist prevailing
over that of mere gain. It is worth living and working
for something more than gain, and the accumulation of possibilities
in one man’s hands. Good fellowship, peace, justice,
understanding, delicacy, fraternity, are aspects which
must be searched for and acheived, and in order to achieve
them effectively in a difficult world, we must find another
way to ally men who work and struggle”. This was
the kind of man he was.
The award is promoted by:
The Association of Worker-Owned Companies
of the Basque Country (Agrupación de Sociedades
Laborales de Euskadi, A.S.L.E.). It is international
and awarded
annually.
A distinction will be awarded to
those Institutions, Organisations, Companies or individuals
who have stood
out most in the defence of the Social Economy’s
main principles: Participation, Democracy and Solidarity.
