217 lines
6.5 KiB
Plaintext
217 lines
6.5 KiB
Plaintext
BELGIAN GENERAL STRIKE
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A report of the General Strike that
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took place in Belgium in November..
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This is an edited version of a
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report sent to us, thanks alot to
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the Narren group.
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Last Summer, the belgian government
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decided to start designing a new
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policy with amendments to laws and
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alterations of this and that
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agreement, allegedly to improve the
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competitive position of Belgium in
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Europe, and thus increase employment
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and get out of the Depression. They
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called it the Social Pact. At first,
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they had meetings with the 'social
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partners '( pension funds
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organisations etc ), the unions and
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the employers organisations. After a
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while though, the unions and the
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social partners refused to go along
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with some of the pact's provisions
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and it all got stuck. So the
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government changed the name into
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Social Plan and went on without
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them. But then it got stuck again
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somewhere, and it was simply just
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such a blatant lie to call it the
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Social Plan that it was renamed the
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Global Plan. The plan was put
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together by the two main parties in
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the coalition government, the
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Christian Democrats and the
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Socialists, who control a half of
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the votes in the parliament (
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although normally a radical change
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like the Plan needs a two thirds
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majority to push it through ). The
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way the plan was worded and
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publicised in the media it was hard
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to find out what in fact it was
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going to change, but with a bigger
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investigation it was revealed that
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the Plan was in fact a massive
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attack on the poor old proles.
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SUMMARY OF THE PLAN
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Some of the main changes the Plan
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proposed were:
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- DOLE: Increasing the time
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school-leavers have to be unemployed
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before they got dole from 6 to 9
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months, chucking you off the dole
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after 2 years continuous signing,
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and forcing those who they suspected
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of being unwilling to work onto
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cheap labour schemes for an extra
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few quid.
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-WAGES: Freezing wages for
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1994 and '95, while allowing prices
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to rise.
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- Scrapping compensation for
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small accidents at work that force
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people to take time off sick ( well
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you should have been more careful !
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)..
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-PENSIONS AND FAMILY ALLOWANCE
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both to go down, guess who's going
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without dinner.
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-Making 'labour' more
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flexible, ie making it so that
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workers can be hired and fired
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easier, forced to work irregular
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shifts, as the boss demands.
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- "Tax on 'second houses",
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this sounds all very socialist but
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in practice also would hit poorer
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people and students renting rooms
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etc.
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All this was in the name of
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increasing Belgium's
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competitiveness, ie bigger profits
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for you know who.
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Anyway, the country went into
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outrage over the plan. When the
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first round of talks broke down, the
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ACV, the Christian Labour Union,
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broke with the Christian Democrat
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Party. The ACV and its socialist
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equivalent, the ABVV,
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(mis-)represent almost all the
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unionised workforce. The ABVV
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leaders were reluctant to strike
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against the government, partly in
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fear of the government falling which
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would let in the far right and the
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liberals. But as the ACV and the
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ABVV's own militants were going out
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on strike anyway, the ABVV decided
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at a congress to go along with it.
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ON THE DAY
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On Thursday 18th November the
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contents of the Plan were revealed.
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On Monday 22nd, the strike was
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struck.. 3 of Belgium's 9 provinces
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were at a standstill. In a new
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tactic, pickets stopped anyone
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getting into the "industrial zones"
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- pickets of all companies blocked
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off roads to stop any firms working.
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Lots of burning tyres were used as
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barricades ( well needed as it was a
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freezing day !), and almost everyone
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brought a bottle ! The atmosphere
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was good, especially when the pile
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of bottles started to grow. It was
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the first time in about 15 years
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there had been a strike, for most
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workers this was their first (
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aaahhh, isn't it sweet? ) On the
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Wednesday, the remaining 6 provinces
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struck and there was hardly anyone
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at work. By the Friday ( " vendredi
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rouge" or Red Friday ) it was a
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national General Strike. On every
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day there were demonstrations,
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local, provincial and national.
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The last time Belgium had such a
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nationwide General Strike, in 1936,
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the demands included the 40-hour
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working week. Alot has changed since
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then, but the same spontaneous
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movement was visible, coming more
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from the grassroots than the
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official union bullshitocracy.
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As always there were scabs and
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people too stupid to enjoy
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themselves and have a few days off.
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There were a few incidents, but
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without major trouble. Even the cops
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were on strike (?!) . Some firemen
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were called by one boss to put out a
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burning barricade, but after
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arriving and having a quick look and
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a drink they left again. There was
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alot of anger directed against
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bosses, big and small, as not
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surprisingly the bosses organisation
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agreed with the Global Plan. After a
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few drinks in Charleroi, 50 odd
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pickets made a tour of some of the
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firms still working and advised them
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to stop or else they would smash the
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places up with their baseball bats.
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On another picketline, a boss turned
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up to be refused entry to his works.
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Leaving his car, he stormed off to
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find some cops to get him in. While
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he was gone though the pickets
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completely demolished his car and
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hid the bits. Some champagne cellars
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got plundered. All in all the
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workers were as usual creative in
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their picketing. People enjoyed
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themselves on a cold day, lighting
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fireworks, and giving any press with
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cameras a 'lively' reception .
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As one picket said: " If I didn't
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share my house with my girlfriend,
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or if I had kids, I don't know how
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I'd survive. I mean, I have to pay
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the rent, and we've got one car, a
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cheap one, but we have to maintain
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it and pay insurance. You've got to
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buy food and clothes every once in a
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while, and you want to go to a movie
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or to the pub sometimes, and pay all
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the bills. But my money's all gone
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by the end of the month, you know?
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And then these fat bastards, who've
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never been deprived of anything in
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their lives tell us we all have to
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make offers and give up a
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little...who are they to talk? They
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earn 2 million a year for god's
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sake. I'm just trying to live.
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There's people who have it worse
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than me. Fucking politicians should
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come and work here for a month...:"
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AND?
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Well for all that, the Global Plan
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seems to have been voted through
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with minor changes, so it looks like
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bad times ahead in Belgium. Not alot
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was heard from the unions. since
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Not surprisingly, alot of these
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changes are attacks the british
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State made on us here in the 80s, or
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are carrying out now: the same sort
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of program is going on in other
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european countries. The euro-bosses
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are tightening our belts for the
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battle for markets with the USA,
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Japan etc. There isnt much to say
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except to repeat the old saying...."
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WE'LL ONLY TIGHTEN OUR BELTS ROUND
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THE BOSSES NECKS".
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