Hundreds of artists, writers and musicians piled bricks in front of parliament in Riga Wednesday to protest government moves to hike taxes on earnings already hit hard by coronavirus restrictions. Aside from increasing taxes, the government also wants to impose new terms of employment that would effect freelancers in the creative industries. "Musicians can't play concerts during the pandemic," singer-songwriter Ainars Mielavs told reporters at the protest. "We've been hit the most compared to other professions, but the government is going to increase taxes on the remaining small income we get from our songs on radio airplay!" Sculptor Aigars Bikse said artists came up with the idea to hold a "brick protest" after talking to the finance and culture ministers. "It was like talking to a brick wall," he told reporters. But he added: "We're not going to throw them (bricks) yet." Statistics show that some 39,000 people in Latvia could be affected by the proposed changes. A eurozone member of 1.9 million people, Latvia's economy is expected to shrink by six percent this year, according to the latest IMF estimate. il/mas/dt