European unions protest over pay

By Brian Love and Manca Ulcar

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Slovenia's capital on Saturday to denounce low pay and corporate greed across Europe as politicians and central bankers called for wage restraint to combat inflation.

At a time of surging food and energy prices worldwide, the European Trade Union Confederation organized what it described as a show of anger and determination to improve on the "poverty wages" of more than 30 million workers across the continent.

"This is a protest against the situation in the whole of Europe," said Reinhard Dombre, head of Germany's trade union federation. He was one of a crowd that police estimated at 10,000 and organizers at 35,000.

"We only want higher wages, the inflation we can't stop," said Elmer Zubrovic, 41, a Ljubljana worker.

Company profits have risen for more than a decade, but the share of wealth going into wages has shrunk and the divide has widened between those at the top and bottom, ETUC, an umbrella body for unions across the continent, said.

John Monks, head of the European Trade Union Confederation, said Saturday's rally was a show of anger and determination on pay and also the injustice of top managers earning as much as 300 times the wage of their workers.

"We cannot accept the sermons and lectures of European central bankers and finance ministers," Monks said. "Europe's workers want their fair share."

MINISTERS SOUND INFLATION ALARM