Workers, activists and others across Europe and Asia took to the streets Wednesday to mark 1er May by protesting against rising prices and government employment policies, and demanding greater rights for workers.
In Istanbul, police used tear gas and fired rubber bullets to disperse thousands of people who tried to break through a barricade and reach the city’s main square, Taksim, despite a government ban on celebrating Labor Day on this emblematic square.
At least 30 people, mostly members of a left-wing party, were arrested earlier for trying to cross the barriers of another police checkpoint.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has long declared Taksim off-limits to rallies and protests due to security concerns, but some political parties and unions have vowed to march on the square, which has symbolic value for unions.
In 1977, unidentified gunmen opened fire during a celebration of the 1er May in Taksim, causing a stampede and killing 34 people.
On Wednesday, police had erected barricades and closed all roads leading to Istanbul’s central square. Public transport in the area had also been restricted. Only a small group of union representatives had been allowed to enter the square to lay a wreath at a monument in memory of the victims of the 1977 incident.
The day of 1er May is marked in many countries to celebrate workers’ rights. The demonstrations of 1er May also provided an opportunity for many people to express general economic grievances or political demands.
Disrupted transport and strikes
In Athens, several thousand demonstrators joined the marches on 1er May, while strikes disrupted public transport and national rail services across Greece.
The national strikes were led by the country’s largest union, which demanded a return to collective bargaining after labor rights were stripped away during Greece’s severe 2010-18 financial crisis.
In Paris, demonstrators gathered on the Place de la République to take part in a march organized by France’s main unions, to obtain better wages and better working conditions. Pro-Palestinian groups and anti-Olympics activists are expected to join the march in the French capital, which will host the Summer Games in less than three months.
France remains under tension, with recent protests by teachers, police and farmers, following last year’s large demonstrations against raising the retirement age.
The unions have filed an indefinite strike notice to pressure the government into making concessions. They said all sectors, including hospitals, would go on strike during the Games if the government did not properly compensate those forced to work during the summer holidays.
Anger and criticism
In Indonesia, workers expressed anger over a new law that they say violates their rights and harms their well-being, and called for protections for migrant workers abroad as well as a pay increase minimum.
Thousands of workers from the satellite cities of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi are expected to take part in marches in the capital, said Said Iqbal, president of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions.
They gathered amid a heavy police presence near the national monument park, waving colorful flags and chanting slogans against the Job Creation Law and the relaxation of outsourcing rules during a walk to Jakarta’s main sports stadium, Gelora Bung Karno.
In Seoul, the South Korean capital, thousands of protesters sang, waved flags and shouted pro-worker slogans at the start of a rally on Wednesday. Organizers said the rally was aimed at intensifying their criticism of what they call anti-worker policies pursued by the conservative government led by President Yoon Suk Yeol.
“Over the past two years, under the Yoon Suk Yeol government, the lives of our workers have descended into despair,” Yang Kyung-soo, head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which organized the rally, said in a speech. We cannot ignore the Yoon Suk Yeol government. We will bring them down from power for ourselves. »
KCTU members denounced Mr. Yoon’s veto in December of a bill aimed at limiting the rights of companies to seek compensation for damages caused by union strikes. They also accuse Mr. Yoon’s government of acting too aggressively during the 2022 trucker strikes.
Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has pushed for labor reforms to support economic growth and job creation. His government has pledged to deal harshly with illegal strikes and to demand more transparent accounting from unions.
“The remarkable growth of the Republic of Korea is due to the sweat and efforts of our workers. I thank our 28.4 million workers, Yoon said in a Facebook post on the 1er may. My government and I will protect the precious value of work. »
Participants in the Seoul rally then marched through the streets of downtown. Similar rallies took place in more than ten locations in South Korea on Wednesday. Police said they had mobilized thousands of officers to maintain order, but there were no immediate reports of violence.
Demonstrations
In Japan, more than ten thousand people gathered at Yoyogi Park in central Tokyo for a demonstration on 1er May, to demand salary increases which, according to them, could be enough to cushion price increases. During the rally, Masako Obata, leader of the left-wing National Trade Union Confederation, said falling wages had made living conditions more difficult for many people and widened income disparities.
In the Philippine capital, Manila, hundreds of workers and left-wing activists marched and held a rally in the scorching summer heat to demand wage increases and job security amid soaring prices food and oil.
Riot police prevented protesters from approaching the presidential palace. They waved red flags and held posters that read: “We work to live, not to die” and “Lower prices, raise wages.” Protesters chanted and gave speeches about the hardships faced by Filipino workers.
Drivers also joined the protest and called on the government to end a modernization program that they fear will lead to the removal of Manila’s streets from their jeepneys dilapidated, which constitute the main mode of public transport.