As job crisis looms, unions push for new social deal

With millions of Europeans set to lose their jobs as a result of the worst recession in 60 years, trade unions are campaigning for a coordinated response at the EU level, May 2009.

To raise awareness of the issues facing European workers, trade union representatives held a series of demonstrations from 14-16 May 2009. Up to 300,000 people were expected to take to the streets of Madrid, Brussels, Prague and Berlin, said Reiner Hoffmann, deputy secretary general of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), which sponsored the 'Action Days'.

• Primary Source

EurActiv, 18.5.09: Unions march for jobs, tighter banking regulation http://www.euractiv.com/socialeurope/unions-march-jobs-tighter-bankin-news-221788

ETUC: News, 15.5.09: Trade union mobilisation higher than expected http://www.etuc.org/a/6186

---