Congress General Secretary David Begg has said that the tide is turning against the austerity agenda across Europe as unemployment climbed to record levels and countries felt "the full force of these bankrupt policies."
In a May Day message, Mr Begg said: "The imposition of austerity across Europe has proven economically toxic and socially corrosive. We have record unemployment across the European Union, with some 24 million people out of work, including 5.5 million young people. Indeed, the impact of this crisis is global as the latest International Labour Organisation (IL0) figures demonstrate."
A new report from the ILO forecasts global unemployment of over 200 million people, by the close of 2012. Significantly, the report is highly critical of the damage done by austerity measures.
"Austerity hasn't worked and it won't work and many people have now woken up to that fact. Across Europe the tide is turning and we are beginning to see the emergence of a new Jobs and Growth agenda," Mr Begg said,
"That agenda has to be reflected at home and we are calling on the Government to move with great speed in putting the trade union plans for pension fund investment into operation. We need to get people back to work and give them a sense of hope again."
