Workers Demand Jobs, Better
Pay on May Day
Hundreds of of thousands of workers marched,
rallied and protested in cities throughout
the world from Jakarta, Indonesia, to
Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday to mark
international worker's day, demanding more
jobs, better work conditions and higher
wages.
In Berlin, Germany, thousands also used the
labor celebration to protest against the
actions of neonazi groups, followers of the
ultra right wing National Democratic Party (NDP).
About 140,000 jubilant workers gathered in
Istanbul's Taksim Square in the first
celebrations since gatherings were banned at
the site since dozens of people died there
in a May 1 gathering more than three decades
ago.
The capital of Greece, Athens, witnessed
riots, with police using tear gas to
disperse demonstrators who threw firebombs
and stones in a large May Day rally against
austerity measures.
In Switzerland, Zurich police also used
water cannons in an attempt to disperse
dozens of stone-throwing protesters as
unions and politicians protested against
"excessive" Swiss banking bonuses.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, workers shout slogans
during a May Day rally. Tens of thousands of
workers thronged the streets of other Asian
cities Saturday in annual May Day marches,
demanding job creation and minimum wage
hikes.
On the Western Hemisphere, thousands of
workers in Caracas, Venezuela, celebrated
May Day and the achievements the Bolivarian
revolution has attained in 11 years of the
Government of President Hugo Chavez.
Farmers, builders, workers from the oil,
communication, education, health and science
sectors, as well as fishermen and civil
servants congregated in downtown Caracas for
the occasion.
In Lima, Peru, meanwhile, demonstrators
protested against the growing deterioration
of employment and demanded the restoration
of important labor rights that have been
lost in the past years.
The leader of Peru's Labor Confederation,
Mario Huaman, denounced that more than 4,000
workers have been laid off just during the
current administration of President Alan
Garcia.
In Chile, officers of the Police Special
Forces, some of them on horseback, charged
against participants at a rally in downtown
Santiago to celebrate May Day.
The official forces used tear gas and water
cannon trucks against the demonstrators who
had denounced, too, the arrest of 150 union
leaders. |
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