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“The trade union movement is in tune with public opinion,” said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. “The rush to austerity is only starting a race to the bottom and will weaken essential public services for generations to come. This is a strong warning not only to governments but to financial markets.”



About 10 million workers in Spain participated in a general strike, unions said, to protest cuts in spending on public services and an overhaul of the Spanish labour law in June that made dismissals cheaper and easier for companies and encourages the growth of temporary employment.



Another 100,000 European workers came to Brussels to protest public investment cuts across Europe. UNI Europa Finance was part of the demonstration in Brussels, bringing a large group of finance workers from across Europe together in the EU capital who marched with an orchestra travelling on a flat bed truck.



The protest was organised by the ETUC as European unions demand recovery plans that focus on creating jobs and growth. Other actions were held across Europe in coordination with the Brussels event.



Jennings said that financial markets and rating agencies can manipulate sentiment against any country at any time without warning.



“The leaders of the financial institutions have not been elected by the citizens of Europe but they hold their future in their hands,” Jennings said. “October has historically been a month of financial turbulence. As governments try to maintain the recovery, this is not a time for speculators to turn their financial guns on the people of Europe. Social tensions are on the rise. Financial markets should not be adding fuel to the fire.”