New York – In Photos: May Day Marked Around The World With Protests

    1

    Hundreds of thousands of Cubans march to mark May Day at Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba, Sunday May 1, 2011. The demonstration is being touted as a massive show of support for economic changes recently approved by the Communist Party - even though the people holding placards and shouting slogans haven't seen the details yet. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco, Prensa Latina)New York – May 1st, often called May Day, might have more holidays than any other day of the year. It’s a celebration of Spring, but mostly it’s known as a day of political protests marked around the world as international workers’ day with marches demanding more jobs, better working conditions and higher wages.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    In Turkey, About 200,000 workers gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim Square in the largest May Day rally there since 1977.

    In South Korea, police said 50,000 rallied in Seoul for better labor protections. They also urged the government to contain rising inflation, a growing concern across much of Asia, where food and oil prices have been spiking and threatening to push millions into poverty.

    Thousands of workers also marched in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines to vent their anger over the rising cost of living and growing disparities between the rich and poor.

    In the Philippines, about 3,000 workers demanding higher wages held a protest in a Manila square that included setting alight the effigy of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III grinning in a luxury car. Aquino was criticized this year for buying a secondhand Porsche in a country where a third of people live on a dollar a day.

    In Spain, where the unemployment has reached a eurozone high of 21.3 percent, several thousand people gathered in the eastern port city of Valencia and protested the government’s failure to create new jobs.

    In Moscow, up to 5,000 Communists and members of other leftist groups marched through the city carrying a sea of red flags to celebrate their traditional holiday, what in Soviet times was known as the Day of International Solidarity of Workers.

    See below photos.

    Members of Turkey's Communist Party, banned until recently, march during celebrations marking May Day in Ankara, Turkey, Sunday, May 1, 2011. Activists flooded Turkey's largest city Istanbul Sunday and marked international workers' day around the world with marches demanding more jobs, better working conditions and higher wages. About 200,000 workers gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square in the largest May Day rally there since 1977, when 34 people after shooting triggered a stampede.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

    Police officers detain a member of the Antifa anti-fascist movement who tried to march to mark May Day in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, May 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Elena Ignatyeva)

    Communist party supporters hold a banner which reads '' Struggle for growth'' as they take part in a rally outside the Greek Parliament in central  Athens, on Sunday, May 1, 2011. Police turned out in numbers in anticipation of unions' and leftists' protest marches, but the rallies were peaceful and passed off without incident.  (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)

    Filipino workers and activists gather near the Malacanang presidential palace during a Labor Day rally in Manila, Philippines on Sunday May 1, 2011. Filipino workers went to the streets to observe Labor Day as they call for the immediate implementation of wage increase. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

    A girl shouts slogans as she joins a May Day rally in downtown Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, May 1, 2011. Tens of thousands of workers demanded the government provide greater labor rights and contain rising inflation. The headbands read: "Unite, Fight." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

    Indonesian workers shout slogans during a May Day protest in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, May 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Irwin Fedriansyah)

    Members of a labor union take part in a rally to mark May Day in Lahore, Pakistan on Sunday, May 1, 2011. Pakistan will also observe the International Labors Day on Sunday along with other nations worldwide. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

    Activists of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) take out a rally to mark May Day in Hyderabad, India, Sunday, May 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

    Protesters and workers march to the government office during the Labor Day in Macau Sunday, May 1, 2011. Different group of protesters are demanding the government to improve the working environment and social welfare.  (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

    Protesters carry a mock Taiwanese banknote with a slogan "Raise salary 5 percent" during a march in Taipei, Taiwan, on Labor Day, Sunday, May 1, 2011. About 2,000 people rallied in Taipei to protest against the island's increasing income gap and demand the government create better work conditions. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

    An effigy of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III on a luxury car is carried by protesters during a Labor Day rally in Manila, Philippines, Sunday May 1, 2011. Filipino workers went to the streets to observe Labor Day as they called for the immediate implementation of wage increase. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

    Thai workers march on the ground of the Bangkok metropolitan administration office with placards of their representatives during May Day celebrations Sunday, May 1, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

    Supporters of the Sri Lanka's ruling party United People's Freedom Alliance hold placards against UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during a May Day rally in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, May  1, 2011. Thousands of flag-waving Sri Lankans used a May Day rally Sunday to protest a U.N. report on alleged crimes committed during the country's civil war.(AP Photo/ Eranga Jayawardena)

    Protesters hold placards during a rally in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, May 1, 2011. Several hundred Malaysian workers staged a May Day rally to call for a minimum wage law. (AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin)


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    1 Comment
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    12 years ago

    And Americans sit back and do nothing. We don’t demand anything from our government. We allow ourselves to be taken advantage of. We don’t demand better wages, we don’t demand a government that isn’t invested everywhere but America. We wanna start more wars than we wanna end. We allow ourselves to be treated like slaves to our government and in return we pay taxes and get nothing to show for it. Not to mention we allow a shadowy organization like the Federal Reserve control our money.
    Land of the free…