National Post

‘Enough is enough!’ Anti-austerity strikes sweep Europe
Police and protesters clashed in Spain, Italy and Portugal on Wednesday as millions of workers went on strike in organized labour’s biggest Europe-wide challenge to austerity policies since the eurozone debt crisis erupted three years ago.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled, schools were shut, factories were at a standstill and trains barely ran in Spain and Portugal where unions held their first joint general strike. Stoppages in Belgium interrupted international rail services.

“I’m on strike because those who work are basically being blackmailed into sacrificing more and more in the name of debt reduction, which is a big lie,” said Daniel Santos de Jesus, 43, who teaches architecture at the Lisbon Technical University.

Photo: A man holds a flare as thousands of people from France and Belgium demonstrate during an anti-austerity protest in Lille, France, Nov. 14. (Philippe Hugen//AFP/Getty Images)