International Desk (EFE).- Workers in Europe rallied on International Workers’ Day to demand better pay and protection of their rights in a year marked by the global trade war unleashed by United States President Donald Trump.
“We are mobilized for peace and social justice. We are also mobilized to say that we want to put workers at the center of the debate” because since Trump’s arrival in the White House “we hear about war, debt, migration yet social issues are completely disregarded,” said Sophie Binet, General Secretary of the General Confederation of Workers (CGT) of .
Binet led the march in Paris with Esther Lynch, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), in the biggest demostration of the 269 celebrated across the country, where left-wing parties ed forces to demand state intervention in the steel group Arcelor Mittal, which this week announced 636 job cuts in .
According to the German Trade Union Confederation, which has 5.6 million , some 310,000 people rallied in various cities in to demand pay rises and better working conditions.
The Old Continent’s largest economy has been in recession for two years, with GDP set to contract in 2023 and 2024. The country’s authorities forecast stagnation in 2025, mainly due to the impact of the trade war.
In Spain, thousands of people rallied in various cities to demand the reduction of the working week to 37.5 hours, which will be up for discussion in Congress next week.
Hundreds of workers from several United Nations agencies demonstrated in Geneva in front of the UN European headquarters to protest against the staff cuts that many international organizations are experiencing, aggravated by the US government’s aid withdrawal.
“We are in a difficult and unfortunate situation where not only the worldwide governments are under attack, but also the UN and its agencies,” stressed Public Services International (PSI) General Secretary Daniel Bertossa.
Meanwhile, Italy’s principal trade unions held demonstrations in different parts of the country to call on the government to take action and guarantee safety in the workplace.
In Greece, trade unions opted for a 24-hour strike to demand better pay and working conditions, disrupting rail and ship traffic at ports when hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the country.
According to the police, around 7,000 people took part in the demonstration in Athens, called by the country’s main public and private sector unions, the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) and Civil Servants’ Confederation (ADEDY), to demand wage increases that would allow citizens to “live in dignity” amid an “unprecedented” rise in the price of the basic basket.
Meanwhile, several thousand university students and of Serbia’s five main trade unions called on the government to improve working conditions, including a four-day working week. They also accused the country’s president Aleksandar Vucic of corruption.
Calm prevailed across Europe, except in Istanbul, where a lawyers’ association said at least 212 people were arrested as they tried to take part in a Labor Day rally in Taksim Square, a symbol of Turkey’s labor movement but banned for demonstrations by the Islamist government. EFE
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