Brussels, 05/08/2011
Brutal austerity, as applied in the European bail outs, will not stop this but will actually make things even worse by undermining wages, jobs and the social security position of millions of workers.
To stop the financial dominoes from falling, we need real, prompt and effective European solutions: to take sovereign debt out of the hands of financial market speculation, Europe urgently needs a common Eurobond that is backed up by the monetary policy of the European Central Bank on the one hand and a common and/or coordinated European tax policy on the other hand.
The ETUC stands in support of and solidarity with its affiliates in Greece, Ireland, Portugal and now Spain and Italy.
Says Bernadette Segol, ETUC General Secretary: “Europe should finally act to avoid a situation in which workers and jobs are the gambling chip of casino capitalism”.