TEMPO.CO, Istanbul - On May 1, workers across the globe gathered to hold demonstrations, figthing for their rights, including better wage and working conditions. In Jakarta, the workers protested against the fuel price hike.
Thousands of protesters even clashed with the authorities, as what occurred in Turkey. Around 80 countries announced world Labor Day to be a national holiday.
Protests first began in Asia, with tens of thousands of workers in Jakarta calling for improved conditions and mobilizing against government plans to cut fuel subsidies.
Step Vaessen, a correspondent for Al Jazeera reporting from Jakarta, said, "Everywhere I look I see workers protesting; this is the biggest rally I've seen here."
In another part of the world, Istanbul's Taksim Square was in lockdown on Wednesday, May 1, after the Turkish government banned May Day protests there.
Taksim Square is the site of May Day massacre in 1977, where dozens of people died in clash between security forces and protesting workers.
Meanwhile, in Phnom Pehn, the Cambodian capital, garment factory workers demanded higher wages and better working conditions. The protest coordinators said that about 5,000 demonstrators, including labor unions, gathered for the rally, chanting slogans and holding banners.
Protesters came from 16 labor unions and associations in Cambodia to mark International Labor Day and urge whoever wins the general election in July to meet their demands.
In the Philippines, thousands of contract workers marched through the streets of the country's capital, Manila. The workers demanded the government to enforce worker's rights by allowing them to form labor unions.
In Athens, Greece's capital, the labor unions from the public and private sector call for a 24-hour strike to protest against the government's austerity policies. In Moscow, authorities sanctioned 16 separate rallies, including one led by Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party. Other groups, including the Communist Party, are holding a gathering of their own. Up to 90,000 people are expected.
AL JAZEERA | CHOIRUL
