Word: unionizers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Nevertheless, the call of the union is powerful in this corner of Europe. The main unions have been drumming up support for week for the 'day of action,' which is aimed at securing government compensation for fading purchasing power as energy and food prices climb...
...unions say that since the start of the year, food prices have risen 7.9%, electricity 20%, gas 50% and coal for heating 59%. The consumer price inflation rose 5.46% year-on-year in September. They say the government is still offering businesses "expensive gifts" like tax relief to foreign investors, but it has done nothing to relieve creeping living prices. Union demands include for higher minimum wages, a VAT cut on energy bills, and lower income taxes...
...union representatives complained that the rescue package seemed like a reward for failed bankers. "It's time to think now of the man and woman on the street rather than the banks," said Philippe Vandenabeele, a local leader of the liberal CGSLB/ACLVB union. "We are calling for better purchasing power for workers...
...head of the socialist trade union ABVV-FGTB, Rudy De Leeuw, said that three-quarters of union members were taking home between $1400 and $2200 per month. "If you have to pay your heating, your electricity, your loan payments, etc, there's not much left," he said. "And we are not even talking about the pensioners, the unemployed or the handicapped...
...Outside the Brussels stock exchange, union members distributed peanuts, and leaflets saying "Purchasing power: what's left? Peanuts." But as the Belgian government struggles to keep up with the spiralling financial crisis, those peanuts might have to last for a long time...