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BRUSSELS (AP) — Thousands of steel workers from across the European Union are protesting at the EU's headquarters to demand more job security and increased protection from cheap foreign imports.
At least 5,000 workers were asking the 28-nation bloc to impose tougher restriction on Chinese imports. The EU is working on plans to make it tougher to swamp the European market with products at dumping prices.
EU Competitiveness Commissioner Jyrki Katainen said about the plans: "Free trade must be fair, and only fair trade can be free."
Industrial Europe union General Secretary Luc Triangle said that "you cannot throw workers in the arena of globalization without any protection."
Steel production was at the heart of Europe's industrial revolution but employment has now plummeted to an all-time low of 330,000.
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