Anti-austerity protests all over Europe By Nikky Raney

Austerity is when a government reduces its spending and/or increases user fees and taxes to pay back creditors.

In over 30 European countries workers are holding anti-austerity strikes and demonstrations due to the many austerity measures the governments have adopted in order to fight public deficit crises.

Wage cuts and tax increases have been put in place by the government although there is a very high unemployment rate, hitting 20 percent over the summer. Europe lost millions of jobs during this financial crisis, and the governments are eager to save money.

There are also plans that may include pension reductions and making the age of retirement higher.

In Spain protests were throwing eggs at buses on streets in Madrid. The workers on strike also sat in front of the parking garage for buses in the city and screamed "scabs" at drivers that attempted to drive out onto the road.

Photo taken from AP

The headquarters of the European Union, in Brussels, Belgium,  is being barricaded by police. Labour leaders are hoping that over 100 thousand workers will gather outside the headquarters and protest, as reported by the BBC.

Jean-Clade Mailly, a French labour leader who heads the FO union, told Al Jazeera:

"Those responsible for this crisis, the banks, the financial markets and the ratings agencies are all too quick in asking for help from states and public budgets and today want the workers to pay for their debts."