May Day - still worth marching on?

Hundreds of Thousands Rally for May Day

By STEPHEN GRAHAM, Associated Press Writer
Mon May 1, 11:22 PM ET

In Germany, unions took aim at corporate greed. In Bangladesh, garment factory employees called for better working conditions. And in Turkey, police fired pepper spray and tear gas to disperse demonstrators denouncing the International Monetary Fund and the United States.

Hundreds of thousands of people rallied around the world for May Day, with protests in Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey and Chile turning violent on the traditional workers' holiday.

Video on CNN-Turk showed protesters in Istanbul fighting with police and one protester cowering in a bus as a police officer beat him with his fists. [..] Police [in Germany] detained 32 people after rocks were thrown from among a crowd of more than 10,000 people obstructing a planned demonstration by neo-Nazi sympathizers in the eastern city of Leipzig.

Across Germany, labor unions protested the effects of globalization on Europe's largest economy, accusing firms of sacrificing jobs for quick profit and urging the government to introduce a minimum wage.

"We don't want American conditions," Michael Sommer, the head of Germany's main union federation, told about 10,000 people at a rally in Wolfsburg, home of car maker Volkswagen AG. "It is really time to stop this madness." [..]

Thousands of garment factory workers rallied in Bangladesh to demand the United States and Europe drop tariffs on their products, saying they could eventually cause the industry's collapse. Others wound through the streets of the capital, Dhaka, banging drums and singing as they called for better working conditions in dangerous factories.

"No more death in factories," they chanted.

About 100,000 workers took to the streets across Indonesia, protesting a labor law that would cut severance packages and introduce more flexible contracts that would chip away at worker security.

"Don't change the law," thousands of laborers chanted in downtown Jakarta, as others arrived in buses and trucks, waving green, yellow and red flags and banners.

Some of the biggest traditional assemblies were in Moscow, where 25,000 people gathered in central Tverskaya Street to hear speeches from trade union leaders and the city mayor and listen to a concert, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. [..]

In neighboring Belarus, about 2,000 people gathered in the capital, Minsk, in a show of defiance after the jailing of opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich by the authoritarian government.

"You can't smother freedom, you can't kill it. These senseless repressions by the authorities only bring the day of freedom closer," Milinkevich's wife, Inna Kulei, told the crowd.

In Mexico, a day-long protest dubbed "A Day Without Gringos" drew thousands into the streets and kept many away from U.S.-owned supermarkets and fast-food restaurants to support rallies in the United States demanding immigration reform.

Thousands of unionized workers dedicated Monday's marches to the cause, carrying banners that read "Total Support for Migrants."

"Above all, we want legalization, because many of them (migrants) have lived there up there for many years," said Venancio Chavez, a 47-year-old bus driver.

In Guatemala, May Day marchers chanted: "The gringos criticize us, but without immigrants they'd be nothing."

Europeans hold May Day protests

Many thousands of people have taken to the streets across Europe as part of traditional May Day protests. [..]

In Belarus, more than 1,000 opposition supporters held a show of defiance after the jailing of their leaders on Thursday over another protest.

While in Turkey, police clashed with at least 20 protesters who held a rally in an unauthorised area of Istanbul.

Tens of thousands of Germans meanwhile called on the government not to dilute peoples' rights as it tackles reforms.

"The government should not put in place anti-social policies," said Michael Sommer, president of the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB), at a rally in Wolfsburg, home to the headquarters of car manufacturer Volkswagen.

Car workers for the Peugeot factory in the UK were attending the May Day rally in London to protest at plans to cut 2,300 jobs.

Russian police spokesman, Viktor Biryukov, said trade unionists marched peacefully through central Moscow calling for a "social state" [..].

The May Day march in the Belarus capital, Minsk - sanctioned by the city's officials - was nominally used to call for an end to short-term labour contracts.

But the main focus of the protest was to call for the release of opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich and other activists who were jailed for up to 15 days last week.

"Freedom for Milinkevich!" marchers shouted as they passed along the approved route, the AFP news agency reported.

"Not all our friends are here today. Many are behind bars," Alexander Dobrovolsky of the United Civic Party told protesters. "We need solidarity to keep us together every day."

In Istanbul, Turkish police arrested at least 20 left-wing protesters who had gathered in the city's Taksim Square without a necessary permit, according to reports. [..]

Meanwhile, in the city's Kadikoy district, thousands gathered for an approved rally, organised by trade unions and civic organisations. A large rally was also being held in the capital Ankara.