politics | May 1, May Day, Labour Day

USA

Its a subterranean fire

ON MAY 1, 1886--125 years ago this month--hundreds of thousands of workers were taking the streets of cities around the U.S. to demand an eight-hour day.

The epicenter of this great labor struggle was Chicago, where the eight-hour movement inspired defiant protests and strikes--and inspired fear and repression from bosses and their loyal servants in law enforcement.

Two days after the massive May 1 actions, Chicago police fired on a protest of workers at a South Side factory, killing four people. A protest demonstration was called the next day for Haymarket, just west of downtown. The rally was peaceful, but as it was nearing a close, police waded into the crowd. At this point, a bomb was thrown into the ranks of police--and this became the excuse for a deadly rampage by the authorities.MORE

More Than 100 US May Day Protests Planned, International Activists Arrested

Most Americans are familiar with Labor Day, but they may not have heard of the international day of worker solidarity known as May Day. At the height of the Cold War, May Day parades were associated with socialism, and in a quest to distance itself from the dirty deeds of the Soviet Union, Congress instead designated May 1 as “Loyalty Day.” Today, we celebrate workers’ struggles on Labor Day, the first Monday in September.

It’s unfortunate that many Americans lost the memory of May Day because in failing to celebrate the holiday, U.S. workers are deprived of the spirit of solidarity they used to share with international workers. However, that doesn’t mean that May Day is completely forgotten within the United States.MORE

TURKEY

Tens of thousands fill İstanbul's Taksim Square on May Day

Tens of thousands filled İstanbul's Taksim Square on Sunday morning demanding jobs and better work conditions on May Day, also known as Labor Day.

Taksim Square carries a significant symbolic importance in May Day celebrations. On May 1, 1977, 34 people were killed during a Labor Day gathering at the square when shots were fired into the crowd from a nearby building leading to an intervention by security forces and armored vehicles. Most of the casualties resulted from the panic caused by the intervention among hundreds of thousands of participants.

When participants gathered in Taksim Square this Sunday, they commemorated those who lost their lives 34 years ago by leaving carnations at the location where the incident first started. In an attempt to replicate the setting of the bloody gathering, they also hung on the outer walls of the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) the same gigantic May Day poster that was hung there on the day of the tragic incident. MORE

TAPIEI

Thousands of workers march in Taipei on Labor Day

Taipei, May 1 (CNA) Shouting slogans and blowing whistles, thousands of Taiwanese workers joined a Labor Day march in downtown Taipei Sunday, calling on the government to deal with problems of low wages and long working hours that they said many employees face.

An estimated 6,000 people shouted "Anti-poverty, "Anti-exploitation" and "We need jobs and dignity, " as they marched through the streets in a rally organized by some 20 groups.MORE

BULGARIA

BUlgaria celebrates International Labour Day

Bulgarians are celebrating Sunday May 1, the international Labor Day marking the struggle for dignified work and the feeling of solidarity amongst laborers.

The history of the commemoration goes back to the 1886 Haymarket incident in Chicago, when a number of protesters - trade unionists and common workers of varying political beliefs - were massacred by police, or hanged after show trials.

Later, in 1890-1 the Socialist International recognized May 1 as an international day to celebrate the struggle for workers' rights.

Massively celebrated in the former Eastern Block, May 1 is also immensely popular with people across Western Europe, with workers traditionally gathering in large rallies on that day.

As such, May 1 is an official holiday in many European countries. Even the Roman Catholic Church has dedicated the day to St. Joseph the Worker.MORE

EGYPT

Official Federation of Trade Unions celebrates Labour Day with ministers

Egypt’s General Federation of Trade Unions is marking Labour Day in a celebration held under the auspices of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawy, head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

The celebration was attended by Ahmed Hassan El-Sebaay, the minister of manpower, Abdallah Ghorab, minister of petroleum, Samir El-Sayad, minister of trade and industry, Mohsen El-Nomany, minister of local development, Ayman Abu-Hadid, minister of agriculture as well as Cairo’s governor, Abdel Qawy Khalifa and Ismail Fahmy, the acting president of the workers’ union.

During the celebrations, the memory of several of the revolution’s martyrs were honoured.

The Independent Federation of Trade Unions, however, is celebrating the day in Tahrir Square.MORE

TANZANIA

Gloomy Labour Day for Tanzania workers

Dar es Salaam. Workers across the country mark Labour Day today hoping the government could provide an escape route to some of their economic hardships exacerbated in the recent past by volatile food and fuel prices.Thousands of the workers are finding it difficult to put food on the table for their respective families and labour unions are warning many Tanzanians could sink deeper into poverty if the government does not take immediate and concrete steps to cushion the vulnerable.

President Jakaya Kikwete is scheduled to preside over the national celebrations in Morogoro after last year’s snub by workers. The Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (Tucta) then declined to invite the President to the annual event, accusing his government of failure to raise salaries across the board and institute other reforms to uplift the lowly paid.

Prior to the snub, President Kikwete’s relations with the union had been soured, leading to the infamous post-election rap in which he declared on television that he did not need their votes. The two appear to have mended fences this year, and Tucta secretary-general Nicholas Mgaya led a team of union officials to State House for talks with President Kikwete over a week ago and secured the date with him for today’s celebrations.MORE

KENYA

Kenya raises minimum wage by 12pc

The Government on Sunday set the stage for a major confrontation with workers when it ignored their call to increase minimum wage by 60 percent.

Instead, Labour and Human Resources Development Minister John Munyes announced a Sh12.5 percent increase of the Sh7,334 minimum wage- bringing it to Sh8250.75.

Prior to the announcement during the Labour Day celebrations at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Central Organisation of Trade Union secretary general Francis Atwoli warned that he will on Tuesday call for a strike and protests similar those in Uganda if the minimum wage is not raised by 60 percent.

The minimum wage would have stood at Sh11,737 if Cotu’s wish was heeded.

Mr Munyes angered the lowly-attended gathering for the celebrations when he announced the increment.

He said this year’s was better than last year’s 10 per cent rise as the economy is not doing well, there’s drought in the country and that exercise duty on maize, wheat and kerosene had been removed.MORE

HONG KONG

Thousands March in Hong Kong on Labor Day for Pay, Benefits

Thousands of protesters marched in Hong Kong, demanding legislation to standardize work hours, overtime pay and an annual review of statutory minimum wage.

About 3,100 people participated in the Labor Day march from Victoria Park to the government office in Central today, organized by the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, Mung Siu-tat, a coordinator of the event, said in a phone interview. MORE

PAKISTAN

May Day and its challenges

The working class of Pakistan, along with their counterparts in other countries all over the world, has been commemorating the International Labour Day on May 1 throughout the country by holding meetings and rallies in order to voice for establishing a society based upon fraternity, equality, democracy, social justice and human dignity.

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The working class of Pakistan has been commemorating this day in the period which poses challenges.

(i) How to make Pakistan as an egalitarian society and to provide decent employment to the work force when almost 1.6 million young labour force is entering the labour market every year.

(ii) Human resources development in Pakistan is decreasing every year comparing with other countries due to lack of provision of fundamental facilities of the education to the poor segments of the society. Almost 61% children are dropped at primary level due to the poverty of their parents.

(iii) The challenges of globalisation of economy and rapid technological development in the 21st century along with multi-dimensional problems being faced by the work force in the form of rising unemployment and poverty and lack of access to basic needs and prevalence of outdated feudalistic system in the rural area and also norms for providing social justice to the work force in the country.MORE

GERMANY

Tracing the roots of Berlin's May Day violence

The riots on Labour Day - introduced as a public holiday by the National Socialists in 1933 - are presented in the media like a weather phenomenon, Haywood says.

'Sunny today, stones will fly tomorrow,' he mocks, adding that his role is to explain 'where the hatred comes from.'

His tours begin in Kreuzberg's former District 36, a small enclave of West Berlin surrounded by the city's dividing wall until 1989.

Haywood's yellow sports jacket is easy to spot as he navigates past the neighbourhood mix of young punks and Muslim women in headscarves, a leftwing newspaper jutting out of his combat trouser pocket.

In this area, he explains, houses damaged during World War II were left to decay, and the low rents attracted two groups - poor Turkish labourers and young German military draft dodgers drawn by Berlin's demilitarized status.

The mixture turned volatile once property developers sought to evict tenants, erect new buildings and push up rents. Berlin's squatter movement was born, providing a rallying call for leftwing radicals.

The multitude of radical groups - from Maoists to autonomists - gathered pace in the student movements of the 1960s, jostled with trade unions in the conservative Germany of the 1970s and 1980s, and reached a turning point in 1987.

That year, leftwingers joined the popular opposition to Germany's census, stoked by talk of a totalitarian surveillance state.

On the morning of that May 1, police raided the Berlin headquarters of the census opponents, fuelling tensions at the city's annual May Day rallies. MORE

SERBIA

Only minor unions protest during May Day

Only three minor unions have called on their members to gather in Belgrade.
Across Europe, mass demonstrations are expected to highlight the issue of worker rights.
In Serbia, workers will spend the day barbecuing in such spots as Košutnjak, Ada Ciganlija, and Mt. Avala, and beyond Belgrade, on Mt. Fruška Gora, where 300,000 are expected.
Unemployment, failed privatizations, endangered labor rights and workers' poor social standing have not proved sufficient to motivate most to express themselves and show solidarity on this day. MORE

COSTA RICA

Costa Rica Unions In Protest March Today

Today is May 1 and in Costa Rica and as in many Latin American countries, it is known as May Day, the day when the government gives an account of the work of the past year and the traditional Dia del Trabajador (Labour Day). Planned for today is a march by members of the various labour unions in Costa Rica from the Parque La Merced (west end Avenida 2) at 9pm to the Asamblea Legislativa (Legislative Assembly) building to the east. The march to protest salaries and other labour related problems facing public and private sector workers. MORE

WORLD ROUND UP: SOUTH KOREA, PHILLIPINES, CHINA, RUSSIA, FRANCE, INDONESIA, SPAIN, PORTUGAL , GREECE.

Workers Demand Better Jobs, Pay On May Day

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.

Chinese holidaymakers flocked to Beijing's Tiananmen Square to watch the daily flag-raising ceremony.

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.MORE

Tens of thousands march for May Day across globe

Tens of thousands took to the streets across the globe for May Day on Sunday, to press for workers' rights amid tough economic times and to back an array of other causes.

From Hong Kong to Indonesia and from Moscow to Paris, protesters marched and rallied in largely peaceful demonstrations for international Labour Day.MORE