'Enough is enough' say EU unions on summit eve
(BRUSSELS) - European trade union leaders brought their anti-austerity drive to EU headquarters Wednesday with the message "Enough is Enough" on the eve of a summit to tighten European Union budget discipline.
Waving posters saying "No To Austerity" and "Rise Up Against Austerity", some 200 leaders from unions across Europe gathered outside the venue where the bloc's 27 leaders gather Thursday and Friday to sign a treaty to strengthen economic governance and budgetary discipline.
"There is too much rigour," said the leader of France's CFDT confederation Francois Chereque, "too much talk about debt that is blocking growth and creating an even more difficult situation."
Similar protests were organised across Europe for the first time on a call from the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).
"We want to say it loud and clear, on the eve of an important European summit, that there are alternatives to this Europe without solidarity, without plans, without hope and without prospects," said Bernadette Segol, ETUC general secretary.
The unions fear austerity measures to overcome Europe's debt crisis will plunge Europe into longer recession, threatening the European social model and leading to cuts in wages and public services as well as new rules on labour flexibility.
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