Strike on Summit Day Shows Task at Hand

By Raf Casert

BRUSSELS -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders meeting for a summit will only have to look out of the window to see the biggest problem with their steady diet of austerity and belt-tightening to fix the financial crisis: disgruntled workers organizing a nationwide strike to protest the direction in which Europe is heading.

That is, if the 27 government leaders can even get to European Union headquarters in time for Monday's meeting.

Belgium's three main unions are joining hands as of late Sunday in a 24-hour strike to protest national budgetary measures that have in part been imposed on Belgium by the EU. If the country hadn't met cost-cutting targets, financial sanctions would have been imposed.

Instead of a beacon for a better future, many Europeans are starting to see the EU as a death knell, one that is suffocating them with austerity instead of supporting them with job-boosting measures.

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"We fully understand the sentiments of all Europeans, especially here in Belgium, where we are so close, the frustrations and doubt and the worries," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

The question is where to find money to boost growth when debt is preoccupying everyone. The austerity measures raise taxes and cut benefits for hundreds of thousands of workers in Belgium. And Monday's strike has been mirrored in many other member states.

Overall, 23 million people are jobless across the EU, 10% of the active population.

"Europe has to offer jobs, social protection and perspective for the future. Otherwise it risks losing the support of its citizens," said the strike manifesto of the ACV union.

For Monday, Thalys and Eurostar bullet trains to Brussels have already been cut, one airport has been closed and Brussels international airport is expecting heavy disruption.

Contingency plans have been made to get the 27 European leaders to the center of Brussels, but even then convoys could end up in choking traffic if workers block the capital's beltway during morning rush hour.