Recession-Sparked European Social Unrest Arrives in Britain
英国工人抗议雇主可雇用外籍工人
With the recession biting and unemployment rates rising, Britain is the latest European country to experience social unrest. At issue in the U.K.; the practice of legally employing foreign European workers in certain sectors while some Britons remain unemployed.
The economic strains that first appeared in the U.S. subprime market last year are now being measured in terms of growing social unrest here in Europe as people confront an uncertain future under the backdrop of growing unemployment.
Over just the past week, angry demonstrators have hit the streets of Iceland, Russia and France.
过去一个星期来,在冰岛、俄罗斯和法国,抗议者纷纷走上街头。
That unrest has now reached the shores of Britain. At an oil refinery on the eastern coast near the town of Grimsby, British workers are calling for a change of policy.
At issue, the legal employment there of hundred of Italian and Portuguese contractors while many Britons cannot find any work.
这些人对数百名来自意大利和葡萄牙的外籍工人可以合法地被雇佣,而很多英国人却找不到工作非常不满。
Keeping abreast of developments at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warns now is not the time for Europe to look inward. "There is an implicit protectionism I am afraid in what is happening at the moment and we have got to deal with this. What is happening now is that countries which have had foreign banks investing in them are seeing the withdrawal of capital. So, it is no accident that crises have been sparked in the eastern European countries in recent weeks because of the flight of capital and then the need to rely on the International Monetary Fund to protect them," he said.
But the noisy discontent may only be starting. At least a dozen demonstrations were staged Friday across the country at energy plants in sympathy with the original protest.
The national mediation service has moved in to talk with unions and employers here to try to calm the dispute before it gets out of hand.
英国国家调解部门目前已经到现场和工会及雇员们交谈,希望局势能够稳定下来,而不是进一步恶化。
Gordon Brown maintains that international cooperation is key in solving such issues. "We should not retreat from the idea that we can solve these problems and still believe in the idea of an open, free market, flexible, inclusive and sustainable globalization," he said.