Trade Union mobilisation in Europe against Austerity
Last week, the Heads of Government of the eurozone agreed on Pact for the euro. Although the text of the Pact omits explicit references to certain of the remarks expressed recently by Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy, its basic thrust is still a policy of squeezing wages across Europe. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) calls for European trade union mobilisation to demand a Pact for More Fairness and More Equality and against Austerity.
The forthcoming European Council, to be held on 24-25 March, will endorse such proposals designed to exert downward pressure on wages, by limiting pay increases to productivity and implicitly barring wages from reflecting increases in prices.
Such policy will systematically redistribute income from wages to profits, dividends and bonuses. If this approach is confirmed, the whole concept of social Europe is being placed in increasing jeopardy.
For these reasons, trade union mobilisations are planned in Europe.
March 16 – Bucharest: 50,000 workers will demonstrate following the call of the trade union confederations of Romania.
March 24 - Brussels: a rally in the Rue de la Loi, Brussels (near the venue of the Summit) with trade-unionists from Belgium and neighbouring countries.
March 26 - London: TUC “March for the Alternative – Jobs, Growth and Justice”with delegations from France and Belgium.
The mobilisation will continue. The ETUC and its six Hungarian affiliates are organising a Euro-demonstration on Saturday, 9 April 2011 in Budapest, where the European Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) will meet during the Hungarian presidency.
More information on Euro-demonstration in Budapest: http://www.etuc.org/a/8313
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