Brussels, 16/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - Faced with the risk of “losing their passion in the face of inappropriate conditions”, trainees at the European institutions are organising a “sandwich protest” in Brussels and a two-hour general strike will take place on Wednesday with a vigil outside the European Parliament headquarters.
The strike was announced on Facebook with the initiators asking all trainees at the European institutions or elsewhere in Brussels: Why have you ever had anything other than a sandwich to eat at lunchtime? As a symbol of modern slavery, a sandwich signifies people who are just as talented but not as lucky as Eurocrats: “This creates a regime of social exclusion of less affluent but equally talented people”.
What are the strikers demanding? An end to “inappropriate conditions in the internship system” where young people “are working without any reimbursement, without a contract, or in a framework of inappropriate payment and working hours”, explain the initiators on Facebook. Trainees at the European institutions get a clear contract and a monthly allowance, often of more than €1000, but working conditions are worse at other employers (NGOs and the like). (JK/transl.fl)