The German union Verdi is opposing changes to the water law in North-Rhine Westphalia. The changes would introduce competition and lead to privatisation of the municipal water companies.
The campaign of Verdi (Wasser ist doch keine Ware- Water is not a good) underlines the impact on price (increases expected), quality (very high) and Security threat to investment and maintenance of infrastructure.
An ETUC analysis reveals how families will be forced to cut back on Christmas dinner this year as a result of food prices rising up to seven times faster than wages. The ETUC found that food prices – the second highest contributor to inflation after energy – have increased by 18% across the European Union since last winter. In contract, the latest figures indicate that nominal wages are expected to have increased by 4.4% in the EU by the end of this year. The sharpest increases are happening in Slovenia, where food prices are rising 7.6 times quicker than wages, followed by Sweden (6.4), Spain
