PARIS (AP) – People pressed by inflation and demanding economic justice took to the streets of cities across Asia and Europe to mark May Day on Monday, in a worldwide outpouring of worker discontent not seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic sent the world into. lockdowns.
French unions are pushing the president to scrap the higher retirement age. South Koreans are begging for higher wages. Spanish lawyers demand the right to rest. Migrant domestic workers in Lebanon are marching in a country plunged into economic crisis.
While May Day is marked around the world on May 1 as a celebration of labor rights, this year’s rallies took on broader frustrations. Climate activists spraypainted a Louis Vuitton museum in Paris, and protesters in Germany demonstrated against violence targeting women and LGBTQ+ people.
The celebrations were forced indoors in Pakistan and overshadowed by political tensions in Turkey, as both countries face high-stakes elections. Russia’s war in Ukraine overshadowed scaled-back events in Moscow, where the Communist-led May celebrations were once big events.
Across Asia, this year’s May Day events brought out pent-up frustration after three years of COVID-19 restrictions. This year’s events had a larger turnout than in previous years in Asian cities, as activists in many countries argued that governments should do more to improve the lives of workers.
Across France, thousands marched in what unions hoped would be the country’s biggest May Day demonstration in years, mobilized against President Emmanuel Macron’s recent move to raise the retirement age from 62 to at 64.. Organizers see the pension reform as a threat to the rights of hard-working workers, while Macron argues that the economy needs it as the population ages.
The months-long protest movement reflects “the hope of workers to be treated differently,” Laurent Berger, head of the influential moderate union CFDT, said at a march in Paris on Monday.
While the marchers appeared largely peaceful, police detained 22 people in Paris and dispersed protesters in Lyon with tear gas after rioters smashed bank windows and other property. French police were criticized for using drones to film riots on Monday in some cities.
Union members marched from Calais in the north to Toulouse in the south, joined by environmental activists and other groups fighting for economic justice, or simply expressing anger at Macron and what he saw his out-of-touch, pro-business leadership. Activists who oppose the 2024 Paris Olympics and their impact on society and the environment also show.
In Turkey, police prevented a group of demonstrators from reaching Istanbul’s main square, Taksim, and detained a dozen protesters, independent television station Sozcu reported. Journalists who tried to film demonstrators being forcibly moved to police vans were turned away or detained as well.
The square has symbolic importance for Turkish trade unions after unknown gunmen opened fire on people celebrating May Day in Taksim in 1977, causing a stampede. Many died. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has declared Taksim off-limits to demonstrations, although small groups have been allowed to enter Taksim to lay wreaths at a monument there.
In Pakistan, authorities have banned rallies in some cities due to the tense security or political situation. In Peshawar, in the restive northwest of the country, labor organizations and trade unions staged indoor activities to demand better workers’ rights amid high inflation. In the eastern city of Lahore, where political parties are banned from holding rallies ahead of local polls on May 14, a workers’ march met the Punjab Assembly.
More than 70 marches were held across Spain, led by the country’s powerful unions, warning of “social conflict” if low wages compared to the EU average do not rise in line with inflation. They also praised the incentives to move Spain to a four-day working week.
Blue-collar workers have led the protests, but white-collar professionals are also demanding a country still reeling from the scars of previous recessions, and where the labor day of traditionally high.
The Illustrious College of Lawyers of Madrid urges reforms of the historical laws that require them to be called 365 days a year, regardless of the death of family members or medical emergencies. For the past few years, lawyers have tweeted images of themselves working from hospital beds on IV drips to illustrate the problem.
In South Korea, thousands of people attended various rallies in the largest May Day gathering since the pandemic began. in early 2020.
“The price of everything has increased except for our salaries. Increase our minimum wage!” an activist at a rally in Seoul shouted at the podium. “Reduce our working hours!”
In Tokyo, thousands of trade union members, opposition lawmakers and academics are demanding higher wages to offset the impact of rising costs as they recover from damage from the pandemic.
They criticized Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s plan to double the defense budget, and said the money should be spent on welfare, social security and improving people’s daily lives. Kishida promised to focus on raising wages.
In Indonesia, people who attended the rally demanded the government withdraw a job creation law that they said would benefit business at the expense of workers and the environment.
“The Job Creation Act must be withdrawn,” protester Sri Ajeng said. “It’s only meant to benefit employers, not workers.”
In Taiwan, thousands of workers protested what they called shortcomings in the island’s self-governing labor policies, putting pressure on the ruling party ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Gathered in the capital, Taipei, medical workers wearing protective gear held placards with messages calling for subsidies, while others held up banners criticizing President Tsai’s labor policies. Ing-wen.
In Lebanon, hundreds of Communist Party members and trade unions, as well as a group of migrant domestic workers, marched in downtown Beirut. The country is in the throes of a dire economic crisis and rampant inflation, with about 75% of the population currently living in poverty.
The protests in Germany began with a “Take Back the Night” rally organized by feminist and queer groups on the eve of May Day to protest against violence directed at women and LGBTQ+ people. Several thousand people took part in the march, which was largely peaceful despite occasional clashes between participants and police. Several more rallies by trade unions and leftist groups are planned in Germany on Monday.
Elsewhere, some communities hold May Day festivals reminiscent of pagan ceremonies celebrating spring.
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Hyung-Jin Kim contributed from Seoul. Mari Yamaguchi and Yuri Kageyama of Tokyo; Niniek Karmini of Jakarta, Indonesia; Kanis Leung of Hong Kong; Suzan Fraser of Ankara, Turkey; Riazat Butt of Islamabad; Abby Sewell of Beirut; and Jennifer O’Mahoney in Madrid, contributed to this report.
