NEWS,01.05.2013

Angry workers unite on May Day

Workers around the world united in anger during May Day rallies on Wednesday - from fury in Europe over austerity measures that have cut wages, reduced benefits and eliminated many jobs altogether, to rage in Asia over relentlessly low pay, the rising cost of living and hideous working conditions that have left hundreds dead in recent months.

In protests, strikes and other demonstrations held in cities across the planet, activists lashed out at political and business leaders they allege have ignored workers' voices or enriched themselves at the expense of labourers. In some places, the demonstrations turned violent, with activists clashing with police.
Many nations have been struggling with economic downturns for several years now, and workplace disasters in developing countries are nothing new, but the intensity of some of Wednesday's gatherings suggested workers' frustrations have grown especially acute, with many demanding immediate action to address their concerns.
The anger was painfully evident in Bangladesh, where the collapse last week of an illegally built eight-story facility housing multiple garment factories killed more than 400 in a Dhaka suburb. The building collapse followed a garment factory fire in November that killed 112 people in the country, and it has increased the pressure on the global garment industry to improve working conditions.
A loud procession of thousands of workers wound through central Dhaka on Wednesday. Many waved the national flag and demanded the death penalty for the now-detained owner of the doomed building.
From a loudspeaker on the back of a truck, a participant spoke for the throngs gathered: "My brother has died. My sister has died. Their blood will not be valueless."
The Bangladesh tragedy drew a denunciation from Pope Francis during a private Mass at the Vatican. He blasted what he called the "slave" wages of those who died, many of whom were being buried Wednesday as other bodies were still being pulled from the rubble. Francis criticized the focus on "balance books" and personal profit that he said are tied to the failure to pay workers fair wages.
In Greece and Spain, increasing numbers of people are losing their jobs as governments grappling with a debt crisis have been cutting spending, raising taxes and pursuing other stinging austerity measures. Both countries have unemployment rates hovering just above 27 percent.
Unions in Greece held a May Day strike that brought ferry and train services to a halt, and organized peaceful protest marches through central Athens. The country, which nearly went bankrupt in 2010, is now in its sixth year of a deep recession and is dependent on international bailout loans.
Turkey
While the austerity drive has succeeded in reducing high budget deficits, it has been at a huge cost: under the terms of its latest loan disbursement, Athens has agreed to sack about 15,000 civil servants through 2014.
"We are here to send a message to... those in power in Europe, that we will continue our struggle against unfair, open-ended policies that are destroying millions of jobs on a national and European level," said Kostas Tsikrikas, leader of Greek public sector labor union ADEDY.
More than 100 000 Spaniards infuriated by austerity measures and economic recession took to the streets of some 80 cities in trade union-organized rallies Wednesday, with the largest protests in Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao.
Under banners reading "Fight for your rights," union leaders Ignacio Fernandez Toxo of Workers Commissions and Candido Mendez of the General Workers Union called on the government to reverse its austerity drive and urged politicians to agree an all-party economic plan aimed at creating jobs.
Francisco Moreno, an unemployed bookkeeper, scoffed at Spanish leaders' calls on the public to be patient. "You can only be patient if you have savings, money in the bank," the 47-year-old said. "You can't be patient if you have no income and kids to feed."
May Day events in Turkey turned violent when some demonstrators, angered at a government ban on a symbolic rally point, hurled stones, gasoline bombs and fireworks at riot police. Security forces used water cannon and tear gas to prevent crowds from accessing Taksim Square, and Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu said 22 police officers and at least three passersby were injured. More than 72 demonstrators were arrested.
The square is the city's main hub and is undergoing a major facelift. Authorities banned celebrations at Taksim this year, citing construction safety risks, and partially suspended public transport services to prevent large gatherings there. But trade unions had vowed to mark May Day in Taksim, which has symbolic importance because dozens of protesters were killed there in 1977 when unidentified gunmen opened fire on May Day celebrators.
"Taksim is our sacred venue. Open it up to the workers!" demanded Kani Beko, leader of a major labour union confederation.
Boos and whistles from protesters forced Danish Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt to halt her May Day speech to thousands at the gathering in Aarhus, some 200km northwest of Copenhagen. Some believe that she has been leaning too far to the right to uphold the goals of her leftist Social Democratic Party. 
Indonesia
As she was walking to her car, a man squirted her with a water pistol. Police spokesperson Carsten Dahl said police had detained the 23-year-old man, but the premier was not injured.
Swedish police said seven people were arrested and five were injured as counter-demonstrators tried to interrupt a May Day parade by right-wing extremists in the southern city of Jonkoping. Police spokesperson Goran Gunnarsson said 60 others were briefly detained as officers tried to keep the two sides apart.
In Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous country, tens of thousands of workers rallied for higher pay and other demands. Some also carried banners reading: "Sentence corruptors to death and seize their properties" to protest a proposal for the government to slash fuel subsidies that have kept the country's pump prices among the cheapest in the region.
In the Philippines, an estimated 8 000 workers marched in Manila to also demand better pay and regular jobs instead of contractual work. Some rallied outside the US Embassy, torching a wooden painting stamped with the words "low wages" and "union busting" that depicted Philippine President Benigno Aquino III as a lackey of President Barack Obama.
More than 10 000 Taiwanese protested a government plan to cut pension payouts to solve worsening fiscal problems, saying it reflects a government policy to bolster economic growth at the expense of workers' benefits. Analysts say poor income levels have forced many young Taiwanese to share housing with their parents and delay marriages.
And in Cambodia, more than 5 000 garment workers marched in Phnom Penh, demanding better working conditions and a salary increase from $80 to $150 a month. About a half million people work in the country's $4.6bn garment industry, which makes brand name clothes for many US and European retailers.
In Mexico, public school teachers who have blocked highways and battled police in recent months marched peacefully on Wednesday in Mexico City and the southern city of Chilpancingo, hoping to block an education reform law that introduces teacher evaluations and diminishes the power of unions in hiring decisions.
"Not here, not there, the reform shall not pass anywhere!" the marchers chanted.
In his 1 May speech, President Enrique Pena Nieto promised new effort to produce more salaried jobs, noting that two-thirds of Mexicans have no benefits and low wages.
In Havana, tens of thousands of Cubans joined the communist nation's traditional May Day march in the Plaza of the Revolution. This year's edition was dedicated to Cuba's ally, the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Cuban President Raul Castro attended the event, but did not speak.

 

Anti-austerity protests sweep Europe

Trains and ferries were cancelled and hospital staff walked off the job in Greece on Wednesday and thousands were due to demonstrate across Spain as May Day triggered protests against harsh government spending cuts.
Separately, Turkish riot police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds gathering in central Istanbul for a rally on what has become a traditional labour holiday.
In Spain, where the unemployment rate stands at a record 27%, the two largest trade unions, CCOO and UGT, called on workers and the unemployed to join over 80 demonstrations across the country.
In a column in financial newspaper El Economista, CCOO Secretary General Igancio Fernandez Toxo criticised the government's "huge irresponsibility" in allowing unemployment to rise to such levels.
Candido Mendez, head of UGT, said having more than 6 million people unemployed meant there had "never been a May 1 with more reason to take to the streets".
In Athens, about 1 000 policemen were deployed to handle any violence during rallies and strikes called by public and private sector unions.
It is the latest in a long line of strikes and protests in the debt-laden country ravaged by its sixth year of recession and popular fury over wage and spending cuts.
"Our message today is very clear: Enough with these policies which hurt people and make the poor poorer," Ilias Iliopoulos, general secretary of public sector union ADEDY, told Reuters.
"The government must take back the austerity measures, people can't take it anymore."
Participation, however, was expected to be well below the levels of major protests last year when as many as 100 000 Greeks marched to the central Syntagma square chanting slogans.
Unions themselves expected turnout to be low in Greece with the traditional May 1 holiday falling just a few days before Greek Orthodox Easter, which meant public schools were shut and many workers had already left for vacation.
Public transport in Athens was disrupted with buses and subways halted, while ships and ferries stayed docked at ports after seamen also walked off the job. Bank and hospital workers also joined the one-day strike.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has sought to maintain a hard line against striking workers in a bid to show European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders - as well as the public - that he is determined to push through unpopular reforms.      
Turkey, Russia
In Istanbul, thousands of police were stationed across the city centre to block access to the main Taksim square as crowds of protesters converged in different parts of the city early in the morning attempting to storm police barricades.
The incidents followed the pattern of recent years, when May Day demonstrations in Turkey's largest city have often been marked by clashes between police and protesters.
Authorities often use force to prevent the rally happening in the centre of the city, having this year already denied large trade unions permission to march on Taksim, saying major construction work there would make it too dangerous.
Two officers were wounded by stones and metal objects thrown at police lines, state-run TRT television said, citing the Istanbul governor's office.
In Russia, around 1.5 million Russians were expected to participate in May 1 parades - a fraction of the millions that used to march in the Soviet times. 

Chinese manufacturing falls in April

China's monthly index of manufacturing activity fell in April, a report said Wednesday.
The Purchasing Managers' Index for the manufacturing sector fell to 50.6%, down from 50.9% in March, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said.
The 50% mark denotes the divide between expansion and contraction.
The index has remained above 50% since October, which the government said earlier was a sign that it had arrested a slowdown in growth in the world's second-largest economy.
The slight drop in April indicated slower growth in manufacturing and the need for a stronger momentum in the country's economic growth, the federation said.
Annual economic growth fell to 7.8% last year, the slowest since 1999, down from 9.3% in 2011. China has been dealing with slowing demand for its exports amid the eurozone debt crisis and uncertainty over the US economic recovery, as well as growing production costs including rising wages.

Greeks, police clash in May Day protests

Trains and ferries were cancelled and hospital staff walked off the job in Greece on Wednesday as workers marked May Day with a strike against harsh austerity required by the country's foreign lenders.
Elsewhere, Turkish riot police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds gathering in central Istanbul for a rally on what has become a traditional labour holiday.
Greece's 24-hour walkout was called by its two major public and private sector unions. It is the latest in a long line of strikes and protests in the debt-laden country ravaged by its sixth year of recession and popular fury over wage and spending cuts.
"Our message today is very clear: Enough with these policies which hurt people and make the poor poorer," Ilias Iliopoulos, general secretary of public sector union ADEDY, told Reuters.
"The government must take back the austerity measures, people can't take it anymore."
About 1 000 policemen were deployed in central Athens to handle any violence during the rallies, though participation is expected to be well below the levels of major protests last year when as many as 100 000 Greeks marched to the central Syntagma square chanting slogans.
Demonstrators began to slowly gather in central squares in Athens to rally before marching to parliament, the site of frequent clashes between police and protesters in recent years.
Unions expected turnout to be low with the traditional May 1 holiday falling just a few days before Greek Orthodox Easter, which meant public schools were shut and many workers had already left for vacation.
Public transport in Athens was disrupted with buses and subways halted, while ships and ferries stayed docked at ports after seamen also walked off the job. Bank and hospital workers also joined the one-day strike.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has sought to maintain a hard line against striking workers in a bid to show European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders - as well as the public that he is determined to push through unpopular reforms.
The lenders' decision to disburse long-delayed aid last year has eased fears that Greece could go bankrupt and be forced to leave the eurozone, but the country still faces deep challenges from a volatile social climate and domestic opposition to a reform programme that includes firing civil servants.
In Istanbul, thousands of police were stationed across the city centre to block access to the main Taksim square as crowds of protesters converged in different parts of the city early in the morning attempting to storm police barricades.

UK manufacturing contracts slightly

British manufacturing contracted by the narrowest of margins in April, and much less than expected, the first major set of data for the second quarter of the year showed on Wednesday.
The Markit/CIPS Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 49.8 in April from an upwardly revised 48.6 in March, putting the sector within a whisker of the 50 line that separates growth from contraction.
Economists had expected a much weaker reading of 48.5.
Manufacturing output fell 0.3% in the first quarter while the economy grew 0.3%, the preliminary official estimate of Britain's gross domestic product in the January-March period showed.
"It is welcome to see the sector showing signs of stabilising in April... The sector should at least be less of a drag on broader GDP growth in the second quarter," said Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit and author of the survey.
He added that a strengthening in manufacturing would also boost other parts of the economy, such as the services.
Manufacturing accounts for 10.5% of UK economy, according to the latest GDP release.
April's improvement in factory activity was helped by the first expansion in new orders since January, with the related sub-index climbing to 50.6 from March's 49.3.
New export orders rose for the first time in more than a year and at the fastest pace since July 2011 on the back of increased sales to North America, the Middle East, Latin America and Australia. But demand from the eurozone remained sluggish.
There was marginal growth in output led by the production of consumer items and investment goods such as factory equipment.
There was also good news on inflation, with manufacturers' selling prices rising at the slowest pace since November while lower commodity and energy prices contributed to the first dip in their input costs since August.
"This provides headroom for the Bank of England's MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) to extend its accommodative policy stance if GDP growth fails to gain traction in the coming months," Dobson said.
If the central bank were to announce more asset purchases this year, it would most likely do so either next week when it updates its quarterly economic forecasts or after its new governor Mark Carney takes over in July.
On a gloomier note, factories shed jobs for the third straight month in April.

Venezuela MPs come to blows

Political tensions over Venezuela's disputed presidential election boiled over on Tuesday in the National Assembly as government and opposition lawmakers said they physically clashed.
"I'm not the only one who has been beaten. They have struck several lawmakers. [Assembly speaker] Diosdado Cabello has to be held to account personally," said opposition lawmaker Julio Borges.
He said he was denied the right to speak in the assembly by the body, which is controlled by a majority loyal to socialist President Nicolas Maduro, because opposition lawmakers have not recognized Maduro's reelection.
So the ruling party majority voted to deny opposition lawmakers their right to speak in the forum to which they were elected, Borges said.
A combative Cabello told the opposition legislators - many of whom shouted in protest and frantically blew whistles - that "as long as [national] authorities are not recognized and the Republic's institutions are not recognized... the ladies and gentlemen of the opposition can go talk to [TV network] Globovision, to [newspaper] El Nacional.
"But they won't be doing it here" in the assembly, Cabello said.
Authorities on Monday began a partial audit of the disputed election won by Maduro, the late Hugo Chavez's handpicked successor, as the opposition rejected the move as insufficient.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who says he was the real winner of the 14 April presidential vote, has accused election officials of rejecting his appeal for a full recount on the orders of the ruling Socialist Party.
The National Electoral Board has ruled that Maduro won by 1.49% of the vote, amending an earlier tally that had Maduro up by 1.8%.
Spain impertinent
The Board has insisted it is legally impossible to carry out a full recount, and that no audit can reverse Maduro's win.
The 40-year-old Capriles has said he will not accept anything short of a full recount.
Capriles - a businessman, lawyer and Miranda state governor - alleges that some voters cast multiple ballots or even voted on behalf of the dead.
Both the government and the opposition have urged their supporters to turn out for massive street demonstrations planned for 1 May.
Former colonial power Spain has offered to mediate between government and the opposition. But on Tuesday Maduro shot down the offer with an insult, calling the Spanish Foreign Minister "impertinent".
"Mr Foreign Minister, get your snout out of Venezuela.... Just get out of here, you impertinent Spanish foreign minister," he said. "Respect Venezuela."

NEWS,13.10.2012

Why Europe Is Failing to Prevent the Spread of the Euro Crisis

Europe's economic crisis is like a runaway freight train and its politicians have yet to find a way to stop it before it breaks ground and completely derails. All the while, the crisis continues to escalate unabated. In Greece, for instance, efforts to tame the country's monstrous debt (expected to reach 180% of GDP in 2013 much more than previously projected) with several rounds of fierce budget cuts and three years of severe austerity have probably done more harm than good for its beleaguered economy, which is expected to shrink by 7% this year. In the absence of a realistic timetable or successful plan of action to solve the crisis, Europe's politicians seem stuck. They have failed to contain the prolongation and the spread of the crisis despite numerous Eurozone summits and other high-level talks about how to save Europe's single currency. It seems as though it has become easier to turn this crisis into a moral and ethical crisis that uses Greece as a target.They have lost sight of the real problem the structural problems stemming from high administrative burdens and the unpredictability of tax systems (France and Greece, for instance, have changed their rate of taxations multiple times) that ultimately result in too-high production costs, which in turn stifle creation and restrain innovation. This is exactly what is keeping European economies from growing.Now that we have identified the problem, it's time to find a solution by changing the conversation in Europe. The conversation about the need to compete with emerging markets like China and India is mute. Europe does not need to compete with these countries. Europe needs to compete with Europe in order to move to the next level, become efficient and spur innovation and herald a new wave of development and growth.To do this, Europe needs to start looking ahead and focus on the so-called Blue Ocean Strategy as regards its economic development. Europe also needs to create new market space getting a bigger Bottom Line to render the competition irrelevant. But even though innovation is the undeniable key to success, Europe seems to be stuck on a Red Ocean strategy (a market-share battle) a conventional approach to business of beating the competition in an existing confined market space. This is one reason the European Union one of world's largest trading blocs is a long way away from becoming the world's most competitive. Europe is also bogged down by too much bureaucracy, too many regulations and a relatively unstable tax regime in many of the EU member states. In France (the second largest economy in Europe), for example, tax laws have been amended eight times over the past two years. Greece has made some 16 revisions. It's this combination of excessive bureaucracy and over-regulation that is ultimately keeping Europe from becoming an attractive incubator of innovation and entrepreneurship. Today's European economic model stumbles on the very high costs associated with processes and transactions. This is largely due to vested interests and the burdensome bureaucracy that unavoidably hides the creation of more reforms. This is why sweeping simplifications are necessary. Economists' incessant pleas for more flexibility have largely gone unheard. It's been more than 20 years since economists started urging EU policymakers to reform labor markets and ease rigidities in the markets. Only Germany has listened, mainly after the pressure created with the unification of East Germany. By doing so, Germany has achieved the highest level of labor reforms in the entire 27-member bloc. The other economies have yet to follow suit. What lies ahead?Europe is at crossroads. It's either going to remain stuck in an old school productive model based on heavy industry, manufacturing and services and no real innovation or it's going to create an economic ecosystem for the next generation. Since it is counterproductive to try to out-perform the competition because it reduces prices, Europe should be creating new markets (or blue oceans) by investing in new technology and new ideas. The creation of new sectors, however, is not going to be easy. Europe needs to start by making some deep changes in its economic pattern of behavior and pass structural reforms aimed at simplifying procedures and encouraging innovation.It's not too late for Europe to turn things around and start pioneering a new generation of groundbreaking industries in an uncontested market space. The list of possible industries is endless and includes everything from high-tech applications of traditional sectors (tourism and agriculture) to green investing and impact investing.Europe should re-power its Silicon Valley-like engines to promote entrepreneurship. It's currently losing its high-tech talent to countries like the United States where the infrastructure is already in place and investment capital is easier to access. An infusion of venture capital funds and expertise can help Europe's engineering and technology universities create a new generation of entrepreneurs.Europe can start by forming new markets that combine technology with traditional industry and services. If policymakers do not embrace creativity and innovation, Europe will end up becoming a very well-experienced butler to China and Asia in general. It's just as John Maynard Keynes, the 20th century's most influential economist, had said about the British economy that it would become the butler of the United States if it stubbornly refuses to adjust to modernization.Time is of the essence Europe needs to start rebuilding its rickety foundation of productivity because financial markets are merciless and move at a much faster pace than any bureaucratic policy decisions in Brussels. The crisis, which started in Greece, sounded all types of alarm bells but they were not heard. The current productivity model fuels informality, especially in the periphery of the European Union. The informal economy has grown from the need to circumvent the overregulation under-regulation and inflexible procedures and the unpredictability of extralegal procedures, rules and regulations.The findings of the World Bank's 2012 Doing Business Survey speak volumes. Debt-stricken Greece ranks 135 out of 183 countries as regards the ease of setting up a business. Spain ranks 133 and Austria 134. Even Germany, the European Union's powerhouse, holds the 98th spot -- nowhere near New Zealand, Australia and Canada (the top three countries). The United States ranks 13.A poor showing on the World Bank's survey denotes the intractability of bureaucracy all the messy overregulation, under-regulation and the super-regulation that is difficult (at times impossible) to bypass.There is only one solution. It's three-fold and involves simplification, deregulation of the market and standardization of procedures. All three can lead to low costs and wider bottom lines (profits).

 

Mitt Romney Ad Spending: Candidate And Allies Greatly Outpace Obama As Election Closes

Mitt Romney's campaign and its Republican allies are set to outspend the president's campaign and allied Democratic groups by more than $18 million on the airwaves just this week, according to data provided by a Democratic source.The disparity, with Republicans spending $41.7 million and Democrats spending $23.5 million, illustrates a strategic gamble on behalf of the GOP presidential nominee to bury President Barack Obama and burn past him during the closing weeks of the campaign."Patience is a virtue," one Republican source said of the decision to hold resources until the last weeks of the campaign. The Republican source, who like all others would only discuss ad buying strategy and details on condition of anonymity, put the ad disparity at somewhat smaller than $18 million. The source offered the following data for the money being spent on both national cable and swing state television ads between Oct. 8 and Oct. 14.

1. Romney campaign: $17.7 million
2. Obama campaign: $16.5 million
3. The Karl Rove-started American Crossroads: $7 million
4. The Romney supporting super-PAC Restore Our Future: $6 million
5. The Obama supporting super-PAC Priorities USA: $4.2 million
6. The National Rifle Association: $1.3 million
7. The conservative American Future Fund: $400k

The reason that the Democratic breakdown of ad spending numbers is different than the Republican breakdown is owed to the fact that they included radio ad expenditures as well as additional advertisers. For instance, Planned Parenthood is set to spend $1 million on ads this week, while the Republican Jewish Coalition is set to spend $1.2 million. The disparity could grow larger going forward. On Friday evening, the Washington Post reported that Restore our Future was upping the ante even further, booking $14 million of ads in nine battleground states for the last week of October. A request for comment from Priorities USA was not immediately returned. Combined with Romney's strong debate performance, the money being spent on the airwaves seems likely to have elevated the Republican candidate's standing nationally and in the battleground states. But not all money spent on television ads is equal. Outside groups and super PACs, for instance, can not qualify for the lowest unit rate for ad slots, which can mean that they end up spending up to three times as much for the same amount of air time. In addition, the Romney campaign has pursued an ad-hoc ad buying strategy -- booking spots week-by-week as opposed to in month-long chunks -- that gives it more flexibility but costs more money. So while the Romney campaign and its allies may be spending more on television ads this week, it's difficult to ascertain how much (if any) advantage they have with respect to the number of ads actually aired. That said, a recent Washington Post article indicated that Romney was making up ground on that front as well.Still, the ad wars raise an interesting question for the Obama campaign. If all that's needed in the race to 270 Electoral College votes is a victory in Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin (provided the president holds on to Michigan and Pennsylvania), why not take resources from one of the more difficult-to-win swing states and send them there? "Absolutely not," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said, when asked whether the campaign is considering this, during a conference call Thursday morning. "Look, we understand that we need as many pathways to 270 electoral votes. That’s been the theory of this campaign since April of 2011. We think we have a path to victory in all our battleground states and we are going to go prosecute those paths. And because of our outpouring of supports from our grassroots donors we have the ability financially to compete everywhere we want to compete. And that’s what we are going to do."

Obama Defends Auto Bailout: 'We Bet On American Workers'

President Barack Obama sought on Saturday to sustain momentum from Vice President Joe Biden's strong debate showing by touting the benefits of one of his signature actions, the rescue of the U.S. auto industry, as he prepared for his next debate with Republican Mitt Romney."We refused to let Detroit go bankrupt," Obama said in his weekly radio address. "We bet on American workers and American ingenuity, and three years later, that bet is paying off in a big way."The president will drop from view for several days to prepare for his second debate with Romney on Tuesday. By focusing on the health of the auto industry, currently benefiting from strong sales, Obama is reminding voters he came to the industry's rescue. Romney had opposed government help for automakers.Obama is hoping to build on Biden's confident performance at the vice presidential debate on Thursday after his own listless debate performance last week gave Romney a sharp boost in opinion polls. He meets the Massachusetts governor for the second of three debates on Tuesday evening in a town-hall format.In his address, Obama highlighted trade agreements that helped promote sales of U.S. autos abroad. Romney has called the Obama administration's record on trade weak and promised to wage much more aggressive campaigns to open markets abroad to U.S. goods and services."I want to see more cars on the road in places like South Korea imported from Detroit and Toledo and Chicago," Obama added.Obama also said that "after 30 years of inaction, we raised fuel standards so that by the middle of the next decade, cars and light trucks will average almost 55 miles per gallon - nearly double what they get today."

NEWS,29.03.2012.

Spaniards strike against 'unstoppable' job reforms

Spanish workers have staged a general strike to protest against labour reforms which the government declared "unstoppable" but many ignored the action, fearing for their jobs in a country with the EU's highest unemployment rate.Factories across the nation were silent and ports closed, while television and transport were disrupted by the strike against the austerity policies of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy - whom Spaniards elected by a landslide only four months ago.Police arrested a number of protesters in Madrid while small-scale violence flared in Barcelona, Spain's second city. Tourists were locked out of the Alhambra, a 14th-century Moorish palace in the southern city of Granada which is one of Europe's great cultural monuments.Strikers promised a wave of protests to confront Rajoy's conservative government over reforms making it cheaper for companies to fire staff and dismantling a nationwide system of collective pay bargaining."We don't have much hope, but this is just the beginning," said Trini Cuesta, a 58-year-old employee at a public hospital in Barcelona. "It's not just about labour reform, we're against policies that are provoking social and economic ruin. Social protests must rise."Spain is tipping into its second recession since the end of 2009 and some observers expect at least another million people to join already swollen unemployment lines. The jobless rate is already 23% and almost half of under 25-year-olds are out of work.Rajoy's government said it was committed to making labour reforms which it argues will help to reduce unemployment by making the labour market more efficient. "The agenda for reform is unstoppable," Labour Minister Fatima Banez said.Police presence was particularly heavy around parliament where politicians were putting in a longer work day than usual as Rajoy sought approval for five different measures, including funding for indebted local governments to pay suppliers.Spaniards have so far been tolerant of Rajoy's efforts to reform the labour market and meet strict European Union-imposed deficit goals to ensure it avoids a Greek-style debt crisis.But the general strike, the first since September 2010, showed that patience may be wearing thin. The largest union put support for the strike at 77% while the government said the work day was proceeding normally but gave no overall tally.Spain's blue chip index fell 0.87%, its eighth consecutive session of declines as concerns over the country's finances returned.There were pockets of violence in Barcelona, where protesters set garbage bins on fire and threw chairs from the famed outdoor cafes of Spain's second largest city onto the street, but no injuries were reported.Union members waving red flags gathered in major cities where they plastered stickers on shop windows reading "Closed for Strike", though many remained open for business.Police barricaded parliament and arrested 58 people in Madrid, many of whom were trying to stop people going to work.Many workers crossed the picket lines, saying they feared losing their jobs or unwilling to lose the average of around 100 euros which will be docked from the pay cheques of the strikers.While many Spaniards are fighting to preserve protection for their jobs, others are on short-term contracts of typically six months with little protection.These workers fear their employers could punish strikers by failing to renew their contracts when they expire, and give the job instead to one of the army of unemployed.Fewer than a fifth of Spanish employees are currently affiliated with the country's two biggest unions and many feel they don't represent the wider workforce."A lot of people actually blame the unions in part for the rigidity in the labour market and lack of competitiveness, so they aren't exactly in the position to rally a lot of people and the support for the strike reflects that," said David Bach, political analyst at IE business school in Madrid.

 However, union members are ready for a long fight. "This is the largest cut of (workers') rights since anyone can remember. There has to be a better way to get out of this crisis," UGT union employee Marta Lois, 40, said on Madrid's main street Gran Via, where protesters blocked traffic."Don't forget this is just the first major event of what is likely going to be a long year of demonstrations against government policies," Antonio Barroso, political analyst with Eurasia Group said.Rajoy said on Tuesday his administration would pass a "very, very, austere budget" on Friday. His goal of cutting the deficit this year to 5.3% of gross domestic product implies nominal cuts of at least 35 billion euros ($57 billion).The cuts are meant to keep borrowing costs down as well as working towards meeting the EU's 3% deficit limit next year, but some economists say they will deepen the looming recession.The strike halted overnight production at factories from Barcelona in the north to Cadiz in the south, with unions reporting full stoppages at General Motors Espana, Renault, ArcelorMittal and Acerinox.Transport employees provided a basic level of service, meaning one in four buses and about a third of metro and local trains were expected to run. Most domestic and European flights were grounded although long-haul services continued."We're offering the government a chance to start a different path (of reform) in search of wider consensus," Ignacio Fernandez Toxo, head of Spain's largest union Comisiones Obreras said. "If not there will be rising social conflict."Despite the promises to push on with reforms aimed at winning approval from Brussels, Rajoy's People's Party suffered a surprise setback in a regional election on Sunday, meaning he must measure his steps to avoid provoking wider discontent.A high turnout is expected at an evening march in Madrid that will end at the central Puerta del Sol square, cradle of last year's anti-austerity "Indignant" movement.National grid operator REE estimated electricity demand - a key indicator of economic activity - for Thursday as a whole would drop by 14.8% from Wednesday to 571 gigawatt-hours, a level comparable to a public holiday or a weekend.During the last general strike in September 2010, demand fell by 12.6% from the day before.