Labor Unrest Fuels Strikes, Protests Across Europe
(Sept. 29) -- Workers across Europe took part in coordinated actions to protest government austerity measures, shutting down much transport in Spain and filling the streets of Brussels with tens of thousands of marchers.
Spain's first general strike in eight years left few buses running in Madrid and about half of underground trains out of service, Reuters said. The government said an agreement with unions guaranteed minimum service. Sky News reported that Iberia, Spain's largest airline, expected only a third of its scheduled flights to take place.
Unions claimed that more than half of the Spanish work force, or about 10 million people, were on strike, Reuters reported, though the government downplayed any problems.
"So far the strike is taking place with normality and without incidents," said Celestino Corbacho, the Spanish labor minister, The New York Times reported. "Citizens are fulfilling both their right to strike and work."
The day of labor action across Europe was led by the European Trade Union Confederation. The group represents trade unions from 36 European countries and claims 60 million members, CNN reported.
"Cutting in a recession is crazy, and we must fight it," John Monks, European Trade Union Confederation's general secretary, told CNN.
Spanish unions are unhappy with labor reforms, which have frozen pensions and cut the pay of government workers.
Union workers worry the changes will lead to more low-wage jobs, though the government is hoping they will help with the deficit and ease the recession while making the economy more competitive, CNN reported. Spain has suffered from one of Europe's deepest recessions and an unemployment rate of about 20 percent, the Times noted.
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In Brussels, union organizers said they had achieved their goal of drawing 100,000 people to march on European Union buildings, The Associated Press reported. Union workers are rallying against higher taxes, a delayed retirement age and longer work day, the Times said.
In Greece, which has been trying to fight off bankruptcy, some transportation workers had walked off the job, national rail workers were stopping work later, and hospital doctors were on strike for 24 hours, AP reported.
Irish police arrested a 41-year-old man after he drove a cement-mixer emblazoned with the words "toxic bank" to the gates of the Irish parliament in Dublin, which is due to authorize billions of dollars of further funding to bolster Anglo Irish Bank, which was nationalized last year. Authorities took more than two hours to remove the truck, according to the Irish Times, because the protester had taken measures to immobilize it.
CNN said protests are also planned in Portugal, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Serbia, Romania, Poland, Ireland and France.
发表于 2010-9-29 20:18
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发表于 2010-9-29 20:37
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