Fight the crisis!

In March, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has launched a European campaign to fight the crisis, because it has become unacceptable for workers and citizens to shoulder the burden of a crisis they did not cause. The campaign places citizens at the heart of priorities and will include a number of European events in May 2009.

Social protest movements are taking place in many European countries – such as in France, Iceland, Ireland and Latvia – as Europeans find themselves paying the price of a crisis caused by unbridled speculation. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is calling for a New Social Deal that gives priority to workers and citizens. This social agenda will have to focus on the main concerns of European citizens: employment, purchasing power and their fundamental rights.

The European trade union movement is kicking off a campaign that will include four European days of action from 14 to 16 May 2009.

This wide-ranging campaign will serve to make the governments assume their responsibility of providing European responses to this crisis, rather than simply taking case-by-case measures.