Revolting Europe
unemployment
Growth? With dole queues growing again, very few in Spain will notice
Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, under whose tenure unemployment jumped to a record high of 6 million people out of work, has made job creation the centrepiece of his campaign for re-election campaign later this year. But in contrast to positive growth signals, the latest jobs figures confirm a catastrophic record, argues Vicente Clavero For … Continue reading
Still on air: how 20 Greek TV workers are keeping the flag flying for independent public broadcasting
French journalists Erwan Manac’h and Marie Chambrial find a group of colleagues in Greece weary but in determined spirits and experimenting with a new type of broadcasting, as they continue on air 24/7 despite the forced closure of the ERT state TV a year ago. They were thought to be history when the government axed the signal in … Continue reading
French left goes Greek
France’s left is in a sorry state. It took a bashing in local elections in March and then European elections in May. The ruling socialists plunged to an all time low of less than 14%. The radical Front de Gauche, comprising the communists and other leftists like Jean Luc Melenchon, polled just 6.3%, down from … Continue reading
Portugal and the Troika three years on
By Catarina Oliveira Three years ago the Portuguese Government called in the Troika. “Save wages and pensions,” was the pretext but that did not happen. Today the dramatic social consequences of the entry of the Troika in Portugal are easy to analyse. A look at the figures shows the spiral of impoverishment in which the country is … Continue reading
How PM Renzi’s Jobs Act will sink Italy
Italy’s new PM Matteo Renzi has pledged to slash the country’s record unemployment with his American-branded ‘Jobs Act’. But his labour reforms, which will see short term job contracts extended for up to 3 years, are more of the same medicine applied since the turn of the 1990s that have been such bad news for … Continue reading
Valls as France’s new PM is poor casting – but that’s not the worst of it
By Jacques Sapir After what can only be called one of the worst defeats suffered by a “Left government” in local elections, a defeat that saw cities won by the Socialists over 100 years ago pass into the hands of the Right (Limoges), French President François Hollande has decided to thank the Prime Minister, Jean- … Continue reading
Inside the Greek laboratory
IN THE RADICAL PRESS / MEMOIRE DES LUTTES A new book publishing the views of Greek scholars and professionals on the impact of Troika policies has helped Bernard Cassen understand better the criminal nature of market fundamentalism pursued by Brussels, Frankfurt and Berlin You have to be very naive to believe that the fury of the “troika” against Greece … Continue reading
Fast Facts: Gender Social Inequality and Austerity in Europe
Europe’s austerity fetish and longer term neo-liberal reforms promoted by Big Business, Governments and the EU Commission hurt women disproportionately. Here’s a few facts to illustrate the point. Europe wide The gender pay gap is around 16% It ranges from more than a quarter (27%) in Estonia to around a fiftieth (2%) in Slovenia. … Continue reading
7 reasons why Greece is going on strike this week
Greek workers will hold a 24-hour strike this week to protest against austerity measures and public sector layoffs demanded by the country’s international lenders, led by the IMF-ECB-EU ‘Troika’. Greece’s public and private sector unions ADEDY and GSEE will launch a 24-hour general strike on Wednesday, November 6th 2013. Here’s seven reasons why they will … Continue reading
Who will represent the educated precariat?
The crisis in Spain and elsewhere has accelerated the emergence of a new social group , making it much more visible in the media and in social and political terms. But unions and the are failing to respond to their needs, argues Bruno Estrada* The crisis in Spain has accelerated the emergence of a new … Continue reading
Italy in the Summer: A Bel Paese for tourists, not so beautiful for the workers
By Roberta Manieri Employers blame the crisis and the need to cut costs. From Italy’s South to the North, workers are being blackmailed into accepting increasingly exploitative working conditions, say unions representing workers in a sector employing around a million people Quality, dignity and professionalism should go hand in hand with the job. Even more … Continue reading
Troika destroys 500,000 jobs in Portugal
The austerity measures demanded by the Troika have destroyed half a million jobs in Portugal. This year, Portugal will have fewer people employed than in 1960. And in 2014 the situation is expected to worsen further. According to Diário de Notícias newspaper, reporting on figures published in the Summer 2013 Economic Bulletin of the Bank of Portugal, ‘already this … Continue reading
If we continue with austerity we will hit the point of no return
By Giorgio Cremaschi If a patient is given an aspirin at the point that he becomes ill and a fever takes hold, the drug may work. But if you wait without giving him anything, just recommending a strict diet, and the fever grows and the disease becomes chronic and complicated, then an aspirin no longer … Continue reading
Democracy or the Euro?
According to the German Constitutional Court it is not acceptable that “the most important decisions at European level be negotiated in anonymous corridors of the Brussels bureaucracy.” In Italy too, we should ask ourselves whether it is right that economic policy is torn from popular sovereignty and dictated by foreign countries and international financial oligarchies. … Continue reading
Six reasons why Portugal held a general strike this week
Portugal’s two main confederations held a general strike Thursday – the fourth general national stoppage in two years. Why? Since 2011, when the government of Portugal signed up to the Troika bail out loan conditions of austerity and neoliberal ‘reforms’, this is what has happened: Real wages have fallen by 9.2% Household spending has fallen … Continue reading
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