OVER 32,000 people took to the streets across Austria on Saturday, demanding the government take action against the rising cost of living and corporate profits.

The central European country’s inflation rate hit 9 per cent in August, and the prices of energy and food have soared to a 50-year high.

Austria’s federal government has placed a cap on electricity prices and is rolling out a one-off payment, known as the “climate and anti-inflation bonus,” of €500 (£438) to all adult citizens.

However, the Austrian Trade Union Federation (OGB), which organised Saturday’s national “Prices Down” march, is calling for a cap on gas prices and for the temporary cancellation of VAT on food.

“One-time payments contain the word ‘once.’ That helps just once,” OGB president Wolfgang Katzian said at the rally at Karlsplatz in Vienna.

“When everything gets more expensive, you need more. And that is exactly what we demand!

“An electricity price cap is not enough, more is needed. We need a heat package with, among other things, a gas price cap — we will fight for that!

“The market has no heart. The market has no social conscience!

“In the past, we trade unions have always taken responsibility and have never shied away from anything. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do now!”