May Day was marked on Monday worldwide with rallies by workers and activists calling for higher salaries, reduced working hours and better working conditions.
In France, unions held massive demonstrations to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s recent move to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Organizers see the pension reform as threatening hard-fought worker rights and France’s social safety net.
The pension bill unleashed France’s biggest protests in years, and the May 1 rallies are expected to be among the largest yet.
May Day, which falls on May 1, is observed in many countries as a celebration of workers’ rights with rallies, marches and other events.
This year’s events had bigger turnouts than in previous years, as COVID-19 restrictions were drastically loosened and opposition centered on how governments’ economic plans will affect workers.
In Pakistan, authorities have banned rallies in some cities due to tight security or political atmosphere.
In Peshawar, the country’s restive northwest, labor organizations and trade unions held indoor events to demand better workers’ rights. Labor leader Saifullah Khan said inflation and economic conditions in the country are making people’s lives miserable.
Politicians were to participate in events in the eastern city of Lahore, where political parties are barred from holding rallies ahead of a local May 14 poll. A workers’ march was to converge on the Punjab Assembly.
In the southern port city of Karachi, the country’s ruling party is hosting a seminar, and several public rallies are taking place.
In South Korea, tens of thousands of people attended various rallies in its biggest May Day gatherings since the pandemic began in early 2020. According to organizers, the two main protests in the capital, Seoul, were expected to draw about 30,000 people each.
"The price of everything has increased except for our wages. So to increase our minimum wages!" an activist at a Seoul rally shouted at the podium. "Reduce our working hours!"
A crowd of people packing Seoul’s downtown Gwanghwamun neighborhood held anti-government placards, sang songs, and listened to speeches by union leaders. They later marched through the streets. Seoul police mobilized thousands of officers to maintain order.
Rally participants in South Korea accused the conservative government of President Yoon Suk Yeol of clamping down on some unions in the name of reforming alleged irregularities.
Yoon’s government has been calling for labor reform, demanding more transparent accounting records of labor unions and an end to alleged illegal practices by some union members and workers in the construction sector, such as pressing firms to hire union members or coercing kickback-like payments from them.
In Tokyo, thousands of labor union members, opposition lawmakers, and academics gathered at Yoyogi Park, demanding wage increases to offset the impact of rising costs as their lives are still recovering from the damages of the pandemic.
Union leaders said government measures for salary increases are insufficient and falling behind with rising prices. They criticized Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s plan to double the defense budget, which requires tax increases in coming years. They said the money should be spent on welfare, social security, and improving people’s daily lives.
"Let’s keep fighting as we workers unite and seek peace and democracy in Japan," said Yoshinori Yabuki, head of Tokyo Regional Council of Trade Unions, one of the organizers for the event.
Others chanted "Gambaro! (Let’s do our best)" before they took to the street for a march.
Kishida attended a Saturday event at a Tokyo park that drew thousands of workers, politicians and representatives from major unions.
"I am participating today to build on the momentum toward higher wages. The most important goal in my ‘new capitalism’ policy is higher wages," Kishida told the crowd.
In Indonesia, rally-goers demanded the government repeal a job creation law they argued would benefit businesses at the expense of workers and the environment.
"Job Creation Law must be repealed to improve working conditions," said protester Sri Ajeng at one rally. "It’s only oriented to benefit employers, not workers."
Protests in Germany started with a "Take Back the Night" rally organized by feminist and queer groups on May Day to protest against violence directed at women, among others.
Several thousand people participated in the march, which was largely peaceful despite occasional clashes between participants and police. On Monday, numerous further rallies by labor unions and left-wing groups were planned in Germany.
In Taiwan, scores of workers took to the streets to protest the inadequacies of the self-ruled island’s labor policies, putting pressure on the ruling party ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Gathering in the capital, Taipei, members of labor groups waved flags that represented their organizations. Some medical workers wearing protective gear held placards with messages calling for subsidies, while others held banners criticizing President Tsai Ing-wen’s labor policies.
In Lebanon, hundreds of Communist Party and trade syndicate members, as well as a group of migrant domestic workers, marched through the streets of downtown Beirut.
The country is in the throes of a crippling economic crisis and spiraling inflation, with some three-quarters of the population living in poverty.
In North Korea, the leading Rodong Sinmun newspaper published a lengthy editorial urging workers to support leader Kim Jong Un, fulfill their set production quotas, and improve public livelihoods.
"We should become genuine socialist workers who uphold the ideas and leadership of the respected general secretary with a pure conscience and fidelity," the paper said, calling Kim by his title at the ruling Workers’ Party.
Kim has been pushing for more excellent public support of his family’s rule as he’s calling for a more robust, self-reliant economy to overcome pandemic-related hardships and protracted security tensions with the United States over his nuclear program.