BY NORM DIXON
Some 100,000 trade unionists and anti-corporate activists filled the streets of Barcelona on March 14 to call for a "social Europe". The protest came as the European Union summit prepared to meet on March 16-17 in the Catalan capital.
Demonstrators marched behind a banner demanding full employment and social rights throughout the EU. The protest was called by the Confederation of European Trade Unions.
Several thousand people also joined the contingent of the Barcelona Social Forum, which unites scores of left parties, trade unions and protest groups. The demonstration was dominated by the red flags of Spanish and French left-wing trade unions.
Italy's conservative prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose government announced on March 14 that it was going to make it easier for employers to sack workers, dismissed the protesters as "professional globe trotters".
Anti-corporate globalisation demonstrators have planned a series of actions over the March 16-17 weekend. Organisers have stated that any violence will be caused by the Spanish police. Members of the Campaign against a Europe of Capitalism and War have described their planned actions as "festive and playful". The group has planned a huge non-violent rally for March 16.
Some 8500 police have been deployed in Barcelona. Madrid reinstated passport controls at the border with France, and at Spain's airports, to prevent known militants reaching the protests.
Security forces cordoned off the area around the summit venue, as well as around the hotels where the EU delegations will be staying.
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, March 20, 2002.
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