Europe
Around 3500 staff of the European institutions took strike action on 8 May in protest at budget cuts that will see significant changes to their pay and conditions. One estimate is that some workers will see an effective 60% cut in pay in real terms over the next 5 years. They will also face longer working hours without an increase in pay and their retirement age rise to 67.
Read more at > Euractiv news website
A national strike by doctors took place on Monday 19 July in protest at government plans to cut health budgets. Doctors’ unions warned that the cuts will mean 30,000 fewer doctors in four years’ time while the number of fixed-term workers will be slashed. Unions are concerned about the implications of these cuts for the level and quality of health services provided. Read more at > news website (EN)
The vast majority of Italy's 30,000 firefighters took strike action on 6 December with 3,000 members of FP CGIL, CISL and UIL, joining a national demonstration in front of the Italian Parliament in Rome on the same day. The protests were over the draft national budget for 2007. Fire services in Italy are already 15,000 below the number of firefighters needed to guarantee service levels with temporary workers used to fill gaps and local fire stations facing cuts. Unions argue that the situation is not only very difficult for workers in the service but also undermines the safety of citizens. The
Trade unions mobilized for a demonstration outside the Irish parliament in protest at the government’s budget proposals that include €4 billion in cuts. Social and welfare payments are affected while public sector workers will see their pay cut by 6%-8%. This follows on from last year’s “pensions levy” which effectively meant a 7% cut in take home pay for public sector workers. [Read more at > Impact (EN)->http://www.impact.ie/iopen24/-t-297_300_496.html] [Read more background at > Impact (EN)->http://www.impact.ie/iopen24/-t-297_300_496.html] [And at > SIPTU (EN)->http://www.siptu.ie
