The EU's answer so far has been to impose strict budgetary austerity, a requirement that often forces debt-laden nations to lay off public workers and cut the pay of those who remain.
In southern Europe, we have people struggling, said Ioannis Sakiotis, a Greek at the EU Commission's fisheries department who was thinking of the deep misery the debt crisis has caused back home.
The unions fear that budget cuts will affect staffing and leave key programs without sufficient personnel.
Even an EU stalwart like Germany is seeking to keep a lid on its contributions — let alone a euroskeptic country like Britain, where Prime Minister David Cameron is demanding immediate action on EU staff costs.
USF trade union President Sylvie Jacobs said that even though EU pay for lower-scale jobs is more than in the private sector, other EU pay scales are largely comparable with those from private multinational companies.
EU personnel include everyone from commissioners to computer experts to cooks — and an army of translators for the bloc's 23 official languages.
Overall, Britain's public sector employs roughly 5.9 million people — a figure that includes local government employees such as school teachers, police, doctors and nurses.
In southern Europe, we have people struggling, said Ioannis Sakiotis, a Greek at the EU Commission's fisheries department who was thinking of the deep misery the debt crisis has caused back home.
The unions fear that budget cuts will affect staffing and leave key programs without sufficient personnel.
Even an EU stalwart like Germany is seeking to keep a lid on its contributions — let alone a euroskeptic country like Britain, where Prime Minister David Cameron is demanding immediate action on EU staff costs.
USF trade union President Sylvie Jacobs said that even though EU pay for lower-scale jobs is more than in the private sector, other EU pay scales are largely comparable with those from private multinational companies.
EU personnel include everyone from commissioners to computer experts to cooks — and an army of translators for the bloc's 23 official languages.
Overall, Britain's public sector employs roughly 5.9 million people — a figure that includes local government employees such as school teachers, police, doctors and nurses.
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