Catherwood LibraryILR School

In Belgium, the protests by members of the European Trade Union Confederation ended in violence as protesters threw oranges and cobblestones and police retaliated with water cannons and pepper spray. Thousands of union members paralyzed traffic and forced the U.S. Embassy to lock down as they protested practices by European Union businesses to bring lower-wage workers to perform work that had previously been performed by natives, a practice known as social dumping. The demonstrations were also meant to call attention to broader austerity measures that the labor unions believe are hurting Europeans, both those employed and unemployed. Police have said that even with clashes in the Belgian cities of Antwerp and Ghent, only one protestor was severely injured, though the Associated Press stated that several people were injured.