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Workers Globally Hold May Day Rallies 05/01 06:20
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Workers, activists and others across Europe and
Asia took to the streets on Wednesday to mark May Day with protests over rising
prices and government labor policies and calls for greater labor rights.
Police in Istanbul used tear gas and fired rubber bullets to disperse
thousands of people who were attempting to break through a barricade and reach
the city's main Taksim square in defiance of a government ban on celebrating
Labor Day at the landmark location.
At least 30 people, mostly members of a left-wing party, were earlier
detained for trying to break through the barriers at another police blockade.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has long declared Taksim
off-limits for rallies and demonstrations on security grounds, but some
political parties and trade unions have vowed to march to the square, which
holds symbolic value for labor unions.
In 1977, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a May Day celebration at Taksim,
causing a stampede and killing 34 people.
On Wednesday, police erected barricades and sealed off all routes leading to
the central Istanbul square. Public transport in the area was also restricted.
Only a small group of trade union representatives was permitted to enter the
square to lay a wreath at a monument in memory of victims of the 1977 incident.
May Day, which falls on May 1, is observed in many countries to celebrate
workers' rights. May Day events have also given many an opportunity to air
general economic grievances or political demands.
In Athens, several thousand protesters joined May Day marches, as related
labor strikes disrupted public transport and national rail services across
Greece.
Nationwide strikes were led by the country's largest union, which has
demanded a return to collective bargaining after labor rights were scrapped
during Greece's severe 2010-18 financial crisis.
In Paris, protesters were gathering at the Place de la Republique to
participate in a march led by France's main unions, seeking better pay and
working conditions. Pro-Palestinian groups and anti-Olympics activists are
expected to join the march through the French capital, which will host the
Summer Games in less than three months.
France remains tense, with recent protests from teachers, police officers
and farmers following huge demonstrations last year against the rise in
retirement age.
Unions have filed an open-ended strike notice to pressure the government
into concessions. They said all sectors, including hospitals, will go on strike
during the Games if the government does not adequately compensate people who
are forced to work during the summer holidays.
In Indonesia, workers voiced anger at a new law they said violates their
rights and hurts their welfare, and demanded protections for migrant workers
abroad and a minimum wage raise.
Thousands of workers from Jakarta's satellite cities of Bogor, Depok,
Tangerang and Bekasi were expected to join marches in the capital, said Said
Iqbal, the president of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions.
They gathered amid a tight police presence near the National Monument park,
waving colorful flags and chanting slogans against the Job Creation Law and
loosened outsourcing rules during a march to Jakarta's main sports stadium,
Gelora Bung Karno.
In Seoul, the South Korean capital, thousands of protesters sang, waved
flags and shouted pro-labor slogans at the start of a rally on Wednesday.
Organizers said the rally was meant to step up their criticism of what they
call anti-labor policies pursued by the conservative government led by
President Yoon Suk Yeol.
"In the past two years under the Yoon Suk Yeol government, the lives of our
laborers have plunged into despair," Yang Kyung-soo, leader of the Korean
Confederation of Trade Unions, which organized the rally, said in a speech. "We
can't overlook the Yoon Suk Yeol government. We'll bring them down from power
for ourselves."
KCTU union members decried Yoon's December veto of a bill aimed at limiting
companies' rights to seek compensation for damages caused by labor union
strikes. They also accuse Yoon's government of acting too aggressively during
2022 trucker strikes.
Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has pushed for labor reforms to support
economic growth and job creation. His government has vowed to sternly deal with
illegal strikes and demand more transparent accounting records from labor
unions.
"The remarkable growth of the Republic of Korea was thanks to the sweat and
efforts of our workers. I thank our 28.4 million workers," Yoon said in a May
Day message posted on Facebook. "My government and I will protect the precious
value of labor."
Seoul rally participants later marched through downtown streets. Similar May
Day rallies were held in more than 10 locations across South Korea on
Wednesday. Police said they had mobilized thousands of officers to maintain
order, but there were no immediate reports of violence.
In Japan, more than 10,000 people gathered at Yoyogi park in downtown Tokyo
for a May Day event, demanding salary increases they said could sufficiently
set off price increases. During the rally, Masako Obata, the leader of the
left-leaning National Confederation of Trade Unions, said that dwindling wages
have made living conditions more severe for many 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 food and oil prices.
Riot police stopped the protesting workers from getting close to the
presidential palace. Waving red flags and holding up posters that read: "We
work to live, not to die" and "Lower prices, increase salaries," the protesters
chanted and delivered speeches about the difficulties faced by Filipino
laborers.
Drivers also joined the protest and called on the government to end a
modernization program they fear would lead to the removal of their dilapidated
jeepneys, a main mode of public transport, from Manila's streets.
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