Thousands of workers from across Europe took to the streets of the Slovenian capital Saturday, calling on EU governments to allow them the pay raise they say they deserve after two years of strong economic growth.
Alarmed by record-high inflation in euro nations, EU officials have urged employers — including governments — to avoid large wage increases that could fuel inflation further.
Local police said 10,000 people joined the protest, which spilled into Ljubljana’s Congress Square as loudspeakers blared AC/DC’s heavy metal anthem Highway to Hell.
PHOTO: AP
Trade unions said around 35,000 of their members traveled to the demonstration from Germany, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Lithuania.
Holding signs calling for “decent work, decent wages, decent living” and “wages up, poverty down,” the protest was entirely peaceful.
FAIR SHARE
John Monks, the general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said people were simply looking for their fair share after Europe’s recent growth spurt created large profits for companies, big bonuses for corporate bosses and tax windfalls for governments.
“We can’t accept lectures that workers should be modest,” he said.
That was exactly what they got in nearby Brdo, where the unions were hoping to embarrass EU finance ministers — meeting for talks on the economy — into backing away from a call for wage restraint.
`ENORMOUS MISTAKE’
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet told reporters that it would be “an enormous mistake” for other countries to follow Germany, Europe’s largest economy, in allowing trade unions to negotiate large pay increases that outpaced productivity growth.
German public sector workers last week won an 8 percent pay increase over two years, train drivers got an 11 percent increase and steel union IG Metall has sealed a 13-month deal for a 5.2 percent wage hike from last month.
Trichet said such deals were an exception because they came after two years of a pay freeze.
POOR TIMING
Workers’ demands come at a bad time. People may be paying more for groceries and transport as prices for oil and food soar — but EU officials fear pay hikes would help inflation spread from those goods and spiral across the economy.
That would risk slowing the European economy which is already forecast to grow more slowly this year as businesses are faced with higher costs for energy, tighter credit conditions and a possible recession in Europe’s main trading partner, the US.
SELF-SUFFICIENCY: The project would only be the beginning, as Taiwan needs at least 120 satellites to ensure uninterrupted communication, Wu Tsung-tsong said The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday said it plans to launch six low Earth orbit satellites starting in 2026 as part of the government’s plan to boost the resilience of the nation’s communications. The development of the technology gained attention after Ukrainians were able to access the Internet through Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, despite their infrastructure being severely damaged in the war with Russia. Two of the satellites would be built by the government, while four would involve cooperation between TASA and private contractors. “Over the past 30 years, the satellite technology in Taiwan has
‘MONEY PIT’: The KMT’s more than NT$2 trillion infrastructure project proposals for eastern Taiwan lack professional input and financial transparency, the DPP said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would ask the Executive Yuan to raise a motion to oppose the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ infrastructure proposals and prepare to file for a constitutional interpretation if the KMT-dominated legislature forces their passage. The DPP caucus described the three infrastructure plans for transportation links to eastern Taiwan proposed by the KMT as “three money pit projects” that would cost more than NT$2 trillion (US$61.72 billion). It would ask the Executive Yuan to oppose public projects that would drain state financial resources, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said. It would also file for
PLAN: Nations would receive US$5m a year if they could advance Taiwan’s international participation, diversify supply chains away from China or counter Beijing’s influence The US House of Representatives Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Friday introduced a bill that would approve US$120 million to be spent on supporting Taiwan’s international space and tackling coercion by China. The bipartisan legislation — the Taiwan Allies Fund Act — was proposed ahead of the inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on May 20. The committee said in a statement that the bill “strengthens Taiwan’s global network of friends by authorizing [US]$120 million over three years for the State Department and USAID [US Agency
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to