In 2008, 1.9 million Portuguese workers in the private sector werecovered by collective bargaining agreements. Last year, the number was down to 300,000.
Spain has eased restrictions on collective layoffs and unfair dismissal, and softened limits on extending temporary work, allowing workers to be kept on fixed-term contracts for up to four years. Ireland and Portugal have frozen theminimum wage, while Greece has cut it by nearly a fourth. This is what is known in Europe as “internal devaluation.”Tethered to the euro and thus unable to devalue their currency to help make their goods less expensive in export markets, many European countries — especially those along the Continent’s southern rim that have been hammered by the financial crisis — have been furiously dismantling workplace protections in a bid to reduce the cost of labor.
where have we heard this before? greed is toppling the towers of those who would be kings, is there plan of world domination just another Pinky and the Brain cartoon episode, or is it the reality of too big to give a damn?
While most of the debate over Europe’s response to the financial crisis has focused on the budget austerity enveloping the Continent, the comparatively unheralded erosion of worker protection is likely to have at least as big and lasting an impact on Europe’s social contract.“It has a disastrous effect on social cohesion and a tremendous effect on inequality,” argued Jean-Paul Fitoussi, an economics professor at the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris. “Well-being has fallen all across Europe. One symptom is the rise of extremist political parties.”
to ignore this is to have it happen to us and sooner than later, btw the party's that are in charge are right wing conservative believers, problem with that is they only believe as our republicans conservatism starts and ends with everybody but them. their dependence on us is kept on the DL and we mostly are unaware of the power we can wield, example 2008 2012.
we don't have to be Europe or any other country that struggles and btw almost all if not all have universal health care and not a faction of gov't like we have anti every freakin' thing but their agenda actually they would turn on a dime if Pres. were to agree with any of their selfish bills. not even dedicated to what they support because Pres. likes it do you realize how much we have been denied because of their prejudices?
