TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Labor activists commemorated May 1 worldwide on Friday, with rallies and street protests. Demonstrators focused their calls on higher wages and better working conditions.
May 1 marks International Workers' Day, or Labor Day, and it counts as a public holiday in many countries, including Germany.
On this day, workers' unions traditionally lead rallies to defend their support for higher wages, pensions, and to highlight inequality and other political issues.
Protesters gathered in several major cities in Asia, Latin America, along with many European capitals. Several protests also took place in cities across the US, which does not observe May Day but has its own Labor Day federal holiday, typically celebrated in the month of September.
This year's Labor Day comes as the Iran War has caused rising energy costs and shrinking purchasing to the world's most vulnerable populations and working classes.
Turkey Cracks Down on Protests
Turkish police clashed with demonstrators who attempted to march toward Istanbul's iconic Taksim Square, leading to over 500 arrests.
May Day rallies on Taksim, a symbolic site for Turkey's labor movement and the scene of the 2013 Gezi Park protests, have effectively been banned since 2012.
Riot police reportedly used tear gas and water cannon to disperse demonstrators, blocking roads in the central Mecidiyekoy and Besiktas districts leading to Taksim, the Cumhuriyet daily wrote.
Local unions, including the Progressive Lawyers Association (CHD), said several demonstrators reported having sustained injuries while being taken into custody.
Authorities also closed some metro stations and major roads in some parts of the city ahead of planned Workers' Day rallies, allocating two sites for celebrations on Istanbul's Asian side.
Germany: Protesters Rally Against Benefits Cuts
In Germany, workers took to the streets in Berlin and other cities across the country, with unions rallying against the governments' planned cuts to health care and social security benefits.
Germany's trade unions organized several hundred May Day rallies across the country with the slogan "Our jobs first, your profits second."
Unions are urging for the preservation of the eight-hour workday and secure pensions, as well as the introduction of higher taxes on the rich.
"You must remain ready for a fight in the coming weeks and months," said Yasmin Fahimi, president of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), at the main May Day rally in Nuremberg.
"Anyone who attacks the level of pension provision is provoking a major social conflict," Fahimi said. "We are capable of mobilizing against this pension theft, and we will fight it off," she added.
Argentines Protest Milei’s Labor-Law Overhaul
In Argentina, workers gathered to commemorate May Day earlier on Thursday, where activists let their feelings known over President Javier Milei's recent overhaul of labor protections.
The General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Argentina's largest union group, marched to the government headquarters downtown to "defend decent employment" against Milei’s changes to the labor code, which since 1974 had guaranteed generous protections and rights for Argentine workers but also raised business costs that scared off foreign investors.
“We want to say to this government, enough is enough," CGT leader Octavio Arguello, a leader of CGT told the crowds of workers beating drums, waving banners and chanting against Milei. "Our patience has run out, Mr. President."
Read: Prabowo at Monas May Day: Dancing, Shirt-Tossing, and More
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