Large demonstrations are taking place around the world on Friday, with participants demanding peace, higher wages, and better working conditions, in a context where they are facing rising energy costs and decreased purchasing power due to the war in Iran. Clashes between protesters and law enforcement took place in Turkey and France.
May 1st is a legal holiday in many countries, and in major cities worldwide, demonstrations are being held on the topics of wages, pensions, inequality, and pressing political issues. Additionally, the rising cost of living, linked to the conflict in the Middle East, is a key theme of the Friday rallies.
"Workers refuse to pay the price for Donald Trump's war in the Middle East. Today's rallies show that workers will not stand aside and watch as their jobs and standard of living are destroyed," said the European Trade Union Confederation, representing 93 trade union organizations from 41 European countries.
Protests are planned in all major capitals across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, as reported by France 24.
Tear gas and arrests in Turkey
Turkish police used tear gas and arrested hundreds of people participating in the May 1st demonstrations in Istanbul, while thousands of people were present at rallies across the country, as reported by Euronews.
According to the CHD Lawyers' Association, nearly 400 people were detained in Istanbul.
Images broadcast on the opposition channel HALK TV also showed the President of the Workers' Party of Turkey, Erkan Baş, being hit by a pepper spray jet.
"Those in power already talk 365 days a year, so allow workers to talk about the difficulties they face at least one day a year," he said.
Police targeted two groups on the European side of the city after they announced their intention to march towards Taksim Square, the site of past anti-government protests and a symbolic gathering place for labor organizations.
However, the authorities closed the square overnight, and a union official, Bașaran Aksu, was immediately arrested after denouncing this decision. "You cannot close a square for Turkish workers. Everyone uses Taksim for official ceremonies, for holidays. Only workers, workers, the poor find the square closed for them," he said.
In the morning, massive police forces blocked access to the central neighborhoods of Istanbul with metal barricades.
In the Mecidiyeköy district, police used tear gas on the crowd, which included members of the Marxist-Leninist People's Liberation Party (HKP), who tried to sneak in while chanting "USA's killer, AKP's accomplice" (referring to Turkey's ruling party, AKP).
Police forces surrounding the Beşiktaş neighborhood intervened violently whenever demonstrators began to chant, with eyewitnesses reporting that several protesters were thrown to the ground.
Tension in Ankara
In the capital Ankara, around 100 coal miners who have been on a hunger strike for nine days demanding overdue wages were cheered as they joined the May 1st march. The participation was remarkably high, with many young people present, under the watchful eye of a significant police presence.
Earlier this week, Turkish authorities issued arrest and search warrants against 62 people, 46 of them, including journalists, unionists, and opposition figures, being deemed "susceptible to commit attacks."
Turkey, shaken every May 1st
May 1st rallies, which honor workers and the working class, lead to major police operations in Turkey every year, with a large area in the heart of Istanbul being isolated each time. Last year, protests shifted to the Kadıköy area of the city, and over 400 people were arrested.
Trade unions and civil society associations have called this year's May 1st demonstrations under the slogan "Bread. Peace. Freedom," as the inflation rate in Turkey is officially estimated at 30%, but is closer to 40% according to independent estimates, as noted by Euronews.
Protests in France: "Hands Off May 1st"
In France, labor demonstrations are taking place in Paris, Lyon, and other major cities under the slogan "bread, peace, and freedom," linking workers' daily concerns with conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, as reported by France 24.
Isolated clashes with law enforcement have been reported in Paris.
In Lyon, 6,500 people participated in the May 1st rally. A few dozen protesters fired fireworks at the police, who responded with tear gas. Four individuals were detained by the police according to a police source cited by BFM TV.
In Marseille, 3,400 demonstrators protested without incidents. 4,000 protesters marched in Nantes, where there were some tensions: masked individuals fired fireworks at the police.
May 1st holds special significance this year in France, following a heated controversy over the possibility for employees to work on the most protected national holiday - the only day when most employees have a mandatory paid day off. Almost all companies, stores, and shopping centers are closed on May 1st, and only essential sectors such as hospitals, transportation, and hotels are exempted.
A recent parliamentary proposal to extend activity on this day sparked major protests from unions and left-wing politicians. "Hands off May 1st," unions conveyed in a joint statement.
Faced with this controversy, the government introduced a bill this week to allow bakery and florist staff to work on this holiday, as it is customary in France to offer lily of the valley flowers on May 1st as a symbol of luck.
"May 1st is not just any day," said Serge Papin, Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises. "It symbolizes the social progress that has come from a century of building social rules that have led to the labor code we know in France. It is indeed a special day," he added.
Protests in the USA
Activists and unions are organizing street protests and boycott actions in the United States, where May 1st is not a federal holiday.
May Day Strong, a coalition of activist groups and unions, has called on people to protest under the banner of "workers over billionaires."
Expressing strong opposition to Trump's policies, organizers have announced thousands of May 1st actions across America and are calling for an economic boycott action of "no school, no work, no shopping."
Demanding measures include taxing the wealthy and stopping the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.
The Tradition of May 1st Celebration
May 1st, or International Workers' Day, dates back over a century.
In 1880, the unions demanded through strikes and demonstrations that the workday be reduced to eight hours. In May 1886, a rally in Chicago organized after the police killed two striking workers the day before also resulted in casualties when a bomb was thrown at the police, and law enforcement reacted by firing into the crowd.
Several union activists - mostly immigrants and staunch anarchists - were convicted of conspiracy and other charges, despite the fact that the bomber had not been identified; four participants were executed.
The unions later designated May 1st as a day to commemorate the slain workers. A monument in Haymarket Square in Chicago commemorates them with the inscription: "Dedicated to all the workers of the world."
May 1st is now celebrated in much of the world, from Europe to Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and labor protests have become traditional.