May Day report, Europe, USA, elsewhere

This is a video from the USA of a May Day march, especially for immigrant workers’ rights.

From London daily The Morning Star:

Thousands celebrate May Day in London

Friday 01 May 2009

by John Millington

THOUSANDS of people from across the trade union and peace movement marched through London on Friday to mark International Workers Day.

The annual event for working people brought together many diverse elements of the labour movement, including Visteon workers, anti-Trident campaigners and Tamil solidarity activists.

Fears that recent clashes with the police at the G20 demonstration would deter workers and families from attending proved to be unfounded.

Another London May Day report: here.

Visteon workers’ victory: here. And here.

Workers of the world march on May Day: here.

From Associated Press:

Europeans rally on May Day amid economic worries

By JENNY BARCHFIELD
Associated Press Writer

PARIS — Hundreds of thousands of European workers feeling the pinch of the economic crisis rallied at May Day protests Friday from Moscow to Berlin to Istanbul.

Violence and clashes between police and angry protesters disrupted some events, including in Greece, Germany and Turkey. But overall participation fell short of what many countries’ unions had hoped for on May Day, a public holiday in many countries that has long celebrated the social and economic achievements of labor movements.

Many of the protesters complained about rising unemployment and lost benefits, but few specifics appeared to emerge from the demonstrations about what governments should be doing to fight the global crisis.

In Paris, fractious French labor unions came together for the first time in decades to stage a joint march that ended at the Place de la Bastille. Up to 300 smaller demonstrations were planned across France, and police said turnout in Strasbourg, Nancy, Metz and Besancon was many times higher than last year’s May Day events.

“There are five to six times more protesters than on a normal May Day,” said Francois Chereque, head of the CFDT union.

Police put nationwide turnout at 465,000, while unions said some 1.2 million people took to the streets on Friday. Last year, May Day marches across France drew an estimated 100,000-200,000 people.

The French rallies followed months of protests and a spate of “boss-nappings” – in which workers angry over job cuts held key managers hostage in an attempt to win concessions. But all of Friday’s rallies were smaller than March 16 protests, when more than 1 million people across France demanded more government protections against the financial downturn.

“Exasperation is rising. Why should the people pay for a crisis for which they are absolutely not responsible?” said New Anticapitalist Party [see also here] spokesman Francis Viguie at a march in the southern city of Montpellier.

In Italy, union leaders shifted May Day rallies from major cities to the earthquake-stricken town of L’Aquila as a sign of solidarity with thousands who lost their jobs when businesses crumbled in last month’s quake.

Spain – which has gone from being one of Europe’s strongest economies to having its highest unemployment rate – saw tens of thousands of people demonstrate. Still, participation failed to reach the massive levels union leaders called for.

In Turkey, which only last week declared the international labor day a public holiday, unionists rallied at a previously banned site where dozens died during a May Day demonstration three decades ago. But the event was marred by nearby fighting between riot police and leftists. At least 26 people were detained, the Anatolia news agency reported.

A protest in the German capital turned violent as leftists hurled bottles and burning objects at police. A group of 400 blocked a streetcar line by sitting on the tracks. Police said 28 were detained in Berlin, and another 200 in the western city of Dortmund, where far-right demonstrators pitched fireworks and stones at pedestrians and police. In the southern city of Ulm, police turned water cannons on thousands who turned out to demonstrate against a smaller gathering of neo-Nazis.

In neighboring Austria, officials said five people were arrested and more than 20 injured in clashes between protesters and police at a rally in the northern city of Linz, organized by the local branch of the Communist Party.

Greek officers used flash grenades to disperse violent protesters in Athens after attacks on banks and traffic cameras. No arrests or injuries were reported, but transport strikes disrupted bus, train and ferry services as well as flights by Greek carrier Olympic Airlines.

It was the first May Day since the advent of the global financial crisis, and Russia police were out in force as Communists and liberals gathered to criticize the government. Moscow police said four leftists were detained after trying to light flares near the Kremlin. Dozens were reportedly detained in St. Petersburg.

In Moscow, several thousand Communist supporters gathered near a statue of Karl Marx and called for the government to resign, accusing it of ignoring the needs of everyday Russians and mismanaging the economy.

Workers march in May Day demonstrations around the world: here.

The Haymarket frame-up and the origins of May Day: here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.