ISTANBUL (AP) — Workers and activists around the world marked May Day Wednesday with mostly peaceful protests demanding higher prices and more workers' rights. Pro-Palestinian sentiments were also evident.
Police in Istanbul used tear gas and fired rubber bullets to disperse thousands of people who tried to break through barricades and reach the main Taksim Square in defiance of the ban. Interior Minister Ali Erikaya said at least 210 people had been detained.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has long declared Taksim demonstrations off-limits for security reasons. In 1977, unidentified gunmen opened fire at a May Day celebration, causing a huge crowd and killing 34 people. On Wednesday, a small group of trade union representatives laid flowers at the victims' memorial.
May Day, May 1st, is celebrated to celebrate workers' rights. It is also an opportunity to express economic grievances and political demands. One banner in Germany read, “Tax the rich.” “Stay away from the 8-hour work day!” Another read in Sri Lanka.
In Paris, police fired tear gas as thousands of demonstrators marched through the city demanding better wages and working conditions. Police said 12 officers were hospitalized after a homemade explosive device detonated during the march. Officials said police detained 45 people during the largely peaceful Paris march, which saw sporadic incidents of violence.
A group of protesters set fire to the makeshift Olympic rings to show their dissatisfaction with the Summer Olympics, which begin in less than three months. French trade unions have threatened to strike during the convention unless the government adequately compensates those forced to work during the summer holidays.
Sophie Binet, general secretary of the CGT trade union, one of France's largest trade unions, said government officials had not been able to meet with trade union leaders. “How do you think things will work out if the authorities don't respond to our simplest requests?” she said.
Pro-Palestinian groups also took part in the Paris rally and chanted slogans in support of the people of the Gaza Strip. There were similar scenes in Greece, where pro-Palestinian demonstrators took part in a May Day rally and marched in front of the Greek parliament waving giant Palestinian flags. Some held banners in support of students holding pro-Palestinian protests in the United States.
“We want to express our solidarity with American students who are facing great repression of their rights and legitimate demands,” Nikos Mavrokefalos said at the march. “We want to send a message that workers say no to exploitation, no to poverty and no to high prices,” he added.
Thousands of protesters took part in a march in Athens as a workers' strike disrupted public transport across Greece. The largest unions are demanding a return to collective bargaining after workers were stripped of their rights during the 2010-2018 financial crisis.
In Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has ratified a law extending income tax exemption to people who earn up to two minimum wages a month (about $544).
“In our country, we don't give tax breaks that favor the wealthiest people, but we don't give people who work and live on their wages,” Lula told a crowd sweltering under the sun at a soccer stadium in Sao Paulo. We will give preferential treatment to those who are.”
Labor unions are an important base of support for Mr. Lula, who has emerged as a trade union leader.
In El Salvador, activists, family members and friends of Salvadorans detained in the government's anti-gang war marched in the capital San Salvador, chanting the names of those arrested and demanding “justice and freedom.” Many of those detained were lower-class workers.
In Nigeria, trade unions criticized the government's efforts to reduce the cost of living and demanded significant salary increases. The inflation rate is over 33%, the highest level in 28 years. In South Africa, pro-Palestinian demonstrators took part in a May Day event, and in Kenya, President William Ruto called for an increase in the minimum wage.
In Lebanon, pro-Palestinian marchers mingled with workers demanding an end to the dire economic crisis. “Politicians don't feel the pain of workers and the economic situation,” said Abed Taba'a, one of the demonstrators. In Iraq, protesters demanded better wages, the reopening of closed factories and an end to the privatization of certain companies.
Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans paraded through the capital two years after it was declared bankrupt and as the country suffers its worst economic crisis. There is growing dissatisfaction with efforts to increase revenue by raising electricity prices and imposing taxes on professionals and small businesses.
In South Korea's capital, thousands of demonstrators shouted pro-labor slogans at a rally that organizers said was aimed at criticizing the so-called anti-labor policies of President Yoon Seok-yeol's conservative government. It was argued that the purpose was to strengthen the
Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the Korean Federation of Democratic Labor Unions, said in a speech, “During the past two years under the Yun Seok-Yeong administration, the lives of workers have fallen into despair.'' Union members criticized Yun's recent veto of a bill aimed at restricting companies' rights to seek damages from union strikes.
In Japan, more than 10,000 people gathered in Tokyo to demand higher wages to offset rising prices. Masako Obata, head of the left-wing National Trade Union Confederation, said income inequality was widening due to the decline in wages.
In Indonesia, workers demanded protection for overseas migrant workers and an increase in the minimum wage. They gathered under heavy police security and chanted slogans against new job creation laws and loosening of outsourcing regulations.
Hundreds of workers and left-wing activists marched in the Philippines to demand higher wages and job security as food and oil prices soar. Riot police prevented them from approaching the presidential palace.
Mr Turnbull reported from Paris and Mr Kim from Seoul. Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed.
