29/01/2009
Wave of fear sweeping across Europe
PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen today expressed his sympathy with and support for French workers on strike in protest about job losses.
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said “There is a tidal wave of fear sweeping across Europe. People are worried about their jobs, their pensions and their homes. People say that right-wing governments like Sarkozy’s are very willing to bail out their friends in the banks but are much less concerned about ordinary wage earners losing their jobs.”
“What French workers are doing today reflects the concerns of workers and their families right across Europe.”
“I have said it before and I will say it again - Europe should be taking new and exceptional measures to stop the predicted loss of 3.5 million jobs across the EU this year. These job losses are unacceptable. These are not just statistics or economic trends, we are talking about people with families, with responsibilities, with the hope of giving their loved ones a decent future.”
“The Party of European Socialists has made it very clear that we believe Europe should set a target of maintaining employment at current levels – and that the European Recovery Plan should be made big enough to achieve this objective.”
At a PES leaders meeting on 30 November in Madrid, party leaders agreed that the ambition to “safeguard employment”’ and “promote smart green growth” should “determine the size and components of the European economic recovery plan.”
New measures needed to stop million of job losses, January 2009
Socialists demand ambitious recovery plan, December 2008
PES Leaders declaration on taking Europe out of the crisis, November 2008
