Tens of thousands of workers in Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Turkey and scores of other countries across the world marched en masse for May Day.
More than 50,000 low-paid workers rallied in the streets of Jakarta today to demand better pay and improved working conditions.
Police clashed with protesters in Istanbul who were trying to reach the city's main square to mark May Day despite a government ban. The government, citing security reasons, banned a rally on Istanbul's Taksim Square. Subways, some buses and even ferries across the Bosphorus were suspended to prevent large groups from gathering on the square.
Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators trying to break through barricades to access the square. Trade union groups had vowed to mark May Day on Taksim Square, which is of high symbolic value to Turkish trade unionists. Dozens of protesters were killed there in 1977 when unidentified gunmen opened fire on thousands of people.
In Greece, ferry and train services in Greece ground to a halt as unions walked out strike for May Day. Thousands gathered for rallies in central Athens. The country's main unions are protesting against soaring unemployment, which is the highest in the European Union, and the austerity measures the government is enacting in return for bail-out loans.
And in central Moscow, at least 70,000 people turned out for a trade union parade.
Rallies were held in more than 80 cities in Spain and thousands of Filipinos marched in Manila demanding the government protects jobs and improves employment contracts
Cambodian workers rallied in Phnom Penh, calling for higher wages, while trade unions held demonstrations in Tokyo, calling for more youth employment.
Workers united to celebrate their day and to say with one voice that enough is enough.
[Reprinted from Morning Star Online.]
More May Day coverage
Join the 'fightback' contingents at May Day! http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53952
Socialist Alliance: Long live May Day! http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53976
May Day marked with big global workers' protests http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53981
Bangladesh: Huge May Day march mourns dead, demands justice http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53980
Philippines: May Day statement http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53977
Bolivia expels USAID on May Day, 'nationalises its dignity' http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53979
Venezuela: Large May Day marches amid new labour law http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53978