MILLIONS OF trade unionists are set to take to the streets in more than a dozen capital cities today as workers throughout Europe protest against numerous austerity policies.
Spanish unions have called a general strike, the first for eight years, and union leaders say a “Euro-demonstration” in Brussels will attract more than 100,000 protesters from as many as 30 countries.
National demonstrations will be held in 12 other cities, Dublin among them, as workers and their leaders oppose tax increases and service cutbacks across swathes of Europe.
The protests have been billed as an opportunity for people to voice anger against the excesses of “casino capitalism” and the push from the EU authorities for governments to tackle big budget deficits and rising sovereign indebtedness. They represent bad news for governments as they will fuel public disquiet about their policies while emphasising the feeble condition of most European economies.
The Spanish general strike comes two days before Socialist prime minister José Luis Zapatero presents his 2011 budget, which will include stringent spending cuts already agreed with legislators.
The mobilisation of workers throughout Europe follows massive rallies in France over President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension reform plans, and a wave of general strikes in Greece against the onerous terms of its bailout agreement with the EU and the International Monetary Fund.
As governments around Europe try to plot a safe course through the biggest economic crisis since the 1930s, their critics in the trade union movement have argued that austerity policies are holding back the prospects of recovery while hurting the weakest in society.
Placards made for protesters in Brussels carry the “No to Austerity” slogan while saying “Priority for Jobs and Growth”.
“We will demonstrate to voice our concern over the economic and social context, which will be compounded by austerity measures,” said John Monks, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation.
“We are particularly alarmed over unemployment and rising inequalities. To cope with increasing precariousness, priority must be given to quality jobs.”
Demonstrations will be held in Lisbon, Rome, Riga, Warsaw, Nicosia, Bucharest, Prague, Vilnius, Belgrade, Paris and Athens.
About 50 international trade unions are sending representatives to the Brussels march, which will culminate in a demonstration in the city’s European quarter near the headquarters of the EU Commission and the European Council.
Afterwards Mr Monks and other union leaders will meet commission chief José Manuel Barroso and Belgian prime minister Yves Leterme. Belgium holds the six-month rotating EU presidency. The union leaders will make the point that workers cannot be the only ones to shoulder the burden of “irresponsible speculation” by financial markets.
This was a theme adopted by Mr Barroso when he said the financial sector must make a “fair contribution” to cover the costs that financiers have shifted on to taxpayers.
“No one should underestimate the sense of injustice that Europe’s citizens feel today,” Mr Barroso said at a financial conference. “The financial sector has benefited from a lot of solidarity, and it is time to return the favour by showing great responsibility.”