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March 30th, 2013 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Protesters took to the streets in the city of Liege as Europe’s largest steel producer ArcelorMittal and construction equipment maker Caterpillar announced plans to cut their workforce due to economic slowdown.
ArcelorMittal announced in January that it would close a coke plant and six production lines which will see 1,300 jobs cut. The company said the decision was made due to the weak European demand for steel in the wake of the eurozone debt-crisis.
The steel giant posted over 200 million euros in losses in the first three quarters of 2012 and has forecast major setbacks in the market this year.
Caterpillar also said in February that it would cut 38 percent of its workforce, or 1,400 jobs, due to high costs and a weak European economy.
The company’s CEO Nicolas Polutnik said the cuts, including 1,100 workers and 300 office staff, were aimed to keep the plant open and operational beyond 2015.
On March 20, about 500 workers of ArcelorMittal Liege and Caterpillar took to the streets in the central city of Namur in protest against factory closures. The demonstration, however, turned violent after riot police attacked protesters.
With an unemployment rate of 7.5 percent, Belgium has adopted austerity measures like many other European countries as the economic crisis grips the continent.
On February 8, European Union leaders agreed on a deal to slash the EU budget to 960 billion euros (about USD1.3 trillion) for the next seven-year period from 2014 to 2020. The deal is set to be voted on by the European Parliament.
On January 25, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the eurozone“continues to pose a large downside risk to the global outlook.” The IMF predicted that the single currency area would remain in recession in 2013.
The worsening debt crisis has forced EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries.
SAB/HGH/SL
Source Article from http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/30/295820/belgian-workers-protest-factory-closures/
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