Police and protesters clashed in Spain on Wednesday as millions of workers went on strike across Europe to protest spending cuts they say have made the economic crisis worse. Hundreds of flights were cancelled, car factories and ports were at a standstill and trains barely ran in Spain and Portugal where unions held their first ever coordinated general strike.
Riot police arrested at least two protesters in Madrid and hit others with batons, witnesses said, and in Rome students pelted police with rocks in a protest over money-saving plans for the school system. International rail services were disrupted by strikes in Belgium and workers in Greece, Italy and France planned work stoppages or demonstrations as part of a "European Day of Action and Solidarity".
"We're on strike to stop these suicidal policies," said Candido Mendez, head of Spain's second-biggest labor federation, the General Workers' Union, or UGT. Read more >>
The nation of Greece comes to a screeching halt again for two days starting Tuesday. Unions have called for a 48-hour general strike ahead of an anticipated vote by the Greek government on yet another round of austerity measures late Wednesday night. Protesters will march on the parliament in central Athens on both days.
Greek media are expecting the vote to be a cliffhanger with narrow passage by just a handful of votes.
If legislators do not pass the measures, it will endanger the payout of the next international bailout installment of 31.5 billion euros, which the government desperately needs to stay in operation. Without the funds, it says it will run out of money by mid-November.
But Greeks are furious over the effects of multiple rounds of belt-tightening, which have resulted in cuts to pensions and pay and seen unemployment in Greece's fifth year of recession soar to over 25%. Critics of austerity have called for economic stimulus programs instead, like those implemented in the United States. Read more >>
Dan Gainor with CNS News reports that an Occupy Wall Street comeback is planned for May 1, when the group has promised: “Millions of people throughout the world — workers, students, immigrants, professionals, houseworkers — employed and unemployed alike — will take to the streets to unite in a General Strike against a system that does not work for us.”
At least 83 groups are listed as endorsing the general strike, many of
them unions. Those include several locals from the American Federation
of State, County & Municipal Employees, Service Employees
International and International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and
Agricultural Implement Workers of America. More...
Occupy Oakland protesters vandalized businesses and smashed bank windows, as they tried to shut down the city with a series of marches today.
Thousands of Wall Street protesters marched through the streets of Oakland, where demonstrators had called for a 'general strike' in an attempt to bring the city to its knees.
Emotions have run high in the city since last week when an attempt by police to break up a camp lead to the serious injury of an Iraq war veteran.
Ultimately only around five percent of city workers took the day off work, officials said.
The demonstrators' attempt to close down Oakland port, America's fifth biggest, also failed.
Perhaps frustrated at their inability to disrupt city business, protesters on the second march of the day turned violent, smashing windows at a Chase bank branch a few blocks from the city's downtown.
Graffiti was also painted on the bank. Employees tried in vain to close up the broken windows with boards and other materials, while one private security guard looked on helpless. More...
ROME – Italians marched through cities and towns in a general strike protesting an austerity budget they say bleeds workers but spares the rich.
The left-leaning CGIL union called the strike in an effort to force prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government to redraft a €25 billion austerity package he says is an essential part of European efforts to save the currency.
The website of the CGIL, Italy’s largest union, said more than one million people took part in various demonstrations in large and small cities around the country.
About 100,000 people, according to union estimates, demonstrated in the central city of Bologna, capital of a traditionally leftist area with a strong labour movement.
In Rome, a long line of protesters blowing whistles and waving red CGIL flags snaked past the Colosseum. Organisers put the turnout at 40,000 people.
In Milan, the CGIL said 80,000 attended a rally, but police estimated the figure at 35,000.
Many of Friday’s marchers also bore placards against car maker Fiat, which is wrangling with unions over plans to improve labour productivity at a plant in southern Italy.
“We say No to this budget. It is wrong, unjust, it stunts growth, it does not kick-start production, it doesn’t touch the rich and it punishes workers,” said union leader Fulvio Mammoni to a crowd of tens of thousands in Naples.
After months of telling Italians they were immune to a Greek-style debt crisis, Mr Berlusconi’s cabinet in May approved an austerity plan, including cuts to funding for municipalities and freezing of public sector salaries.
The government said a random poll of 30 per cent of state workers showed that fewer than 3 per cent of them had heeded the strike call as of early yesterday afternoon.
Support for the stoppage seemed mixed in some areas, despite the union’s judgment that adherence was “massive”. Several bus and metro services in Rome still ran.
The strike was a test of strength for Mr Berlusconi, whose poll ratings have sunk to new lows as unemployment has risen and the euro zone’s third largest economy has struggled to emerge from its worst post-second World War recession.
The strike has split Italy’s trade union movement, which is divided along political lines. The other two main unions have asked their members to stay on the job.
