7 November, 2016Thousands of steel workers will take to the streets of Brussels on Wednesday 9 November to demand action from the European Union to stop the decline of their industry.
The industriAll Europe-led protest, which starts at 11am at the Parc de Cinquantenaire, will bring steel workers from across Europe to march through the very heart of the European Union quarter of the Belgian capital.
The workers want to pressure the European Union into protecting the steel industry within its borders. Prior to the outbreak of the financial crisis, the steel industry employed over 400,000 workers in Europe. Over the past five years, this figure has plummeted to 330,000, with further job losses looming on the horizon.
Marching under the banner of ‘No Europe without steel’ – trade unions, which also include IndustriALL Global Union affiliates, will be demanding an end to the dumping of under-priced Chinese steel on the European market. They also want the European Union to implement policy initiatives laid out in the European Steel Action Plan to save the steel industry from being wiped out in the continent.
Strategies to beat the global steel crisis will be of key debate at the IndustriALL base metals conference on 21-23 November to be held in Duisburg, Germany.
Follow the march on twitter with hashtag #EUActionDay_Steel.
Find out more about the industriAll Europe rally here.