Thousands rally in Brussels to back Audi workers and call for EU industrial action

  • last month
Initially launched in solidarity with employees at the Audi plant in Brussels, Monday's rally in the Belgian capital became the call for measures to preserve Europe's industrial sector.
Transcript
00:00They came from Germany, Italy and Hungary to support the Belgian trade unions.
00:07More than 5,000 people, according to the police, gathered in the Belgian capital on Monday
00:12to support the employees of Audi factory in Brussels and their subcontractors,
00:17but also to call for an ambitious European industrial policy to defend jobs on the continent.
00:23Ok, so also in the car industry.
00:30We ask the European Union to implement industrial policies
00:35that give answers to the workers who look to the future,
00:40because we think that nobody can do it alone, compared to the challenges we face.
00:47In July, Audi announced a restructuring of its Brussels plant, provoking anger among employees.
00:54Parent company Volkswagen has also announced closure in Germany.
01:00Passenger car sales in Europe are expected to fall by 4.6% compared with the previous year,
01:07prompting some Belgian politicians in the procession to say that the answer can only be European.
01:17We need a more global strategy.
01:21For example, energy costs are much too high.
01:25We need an industrial plan for the future of our jobs.
01:30Electrification, for example, in cars, requires a lot of investment.
01:35But now the big brands don't make enough investments,
01:40they save money on the workers.
01:46Many of the demonstrators are questioning the re-industrialization of Europe,
01:50which has been announced for several years.
01:53Who are you talking about?
01:55In general, we have to expect that Europe, and we are already witnessing this,
02:00is losing its primordial place in the world.
02:04We are being eaten, literally,
02:08and I don't know if we are able to do anything about it.
02:13This event is taking place when the Union's new institutional teams are being put in place,
02:17and the European trade union world is trying to make its voice heard at the start of its mandate.
02:23For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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