May Day demonstrations reports

This video says about itself:

London May Day Celebrations (1939)

Various shots of hundreds of people taking part in a socialist march through the streets of London. The protesters carry numerous posters with slogans such as “CHAMBERLAIN MUST GO!”

London, England, about yesterday: JOHN McDONNELL told the May Day masses yesterday that the general election is the biggest chance of a lifetime for the left. Addressing a packed Trafalgar Square on International Workers’ Day, the shadow chancellor launched a searing attack on the Tory government’s record of cuts, low pay and privatisation: here.

UP to 10,000 workers, trade unionists, students and youth marched on May Day in London from Clerkenwell Green to Trafalgar Square, carrying banners and flags: here.

MAY DAY marches throughout the EU were full of explosive class tensions reflecting the battle that workers are waging to defend their living standards and rights: here.

This video says about itself:

May Day In Paris (1946)

Parisians celebrate the 1st post-war May Day. Various shots large procession / rally: banners representing political parties and unions are carried by people or are attached to carnival floats, one person carries hammer and sickle flag.

Around 140,000 people marched yesterday in demonstrations across France for May Day, in the run-up to the second round of the presidential elections between former … Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron and neo-fascist National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen: here.

About Paris, France:

Witnesses reported riot police clubbing protesters who had been pressed against a wall on a tree-lined avenue.

Rioting broke out on the night of the first round of presidential elections a week ago, with anti-fascists and anarchists angry at the narrow choice presented to voters next Sunday.

The far-right National Front’s (FN) Marine Le Pen will face neoliberal Emmanuel Macron under his En Marche! (Forward!) banner.

Mr Macron served as finance minister in the Socialist party government of outgoing President Francois Hollande, which courted unpopularity by imposing an EU-dictated anti-worker labour law by decree after parliament had twice rejected it, sparking general strikes and street battles.

Ms Le Pen, who stepped down as FN leader last week in a bid to broaden her appeal, wants to ditch the euro currency and hold a referendum on EU membership so that France can reimpose border controls and deny state service to non-nationals. Unions organising Paris marches oppose Le Pen’s presidential bid — but differ on tactics.

Some have urged French workers to vote for Mr Macron but others have refused to make that call, including the left’s presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who was eliminated in the first-round vote on April 23.

Mr Melenchon says he will cast a vote against Ms Le Pen but will not instruct his supporters on how to vote. He condemned Ms Le Pen and Mr Macron as the candidates of the “extreme right” and “extreme finance.”

This video says about itself:

1 May 2017

Over six million workers took to the streets across Cuba on May Day to defend a ‘sovereign, socialist and sustainable’ nation. They expressed solidarity with Venezuela in the face of threats from the right.

By James Tweedie, about Havana, Cuba:

RAUL CASTRO led his final May Day march as president in Havana yesterday, dedicated to late leader Fidel.

Crowds gathered from 2am in the capital’s huge Jose Marti Revolution Square for the annual highlight of workers’ celebrations around the world.

Mr Castro, who has said he will step down next February, presided over the rally.

This video, by Jennifer Perez from Puerto Rico, says about itself:

STRIKE IN PUERTO RICO ★ MAY 1 2017

May Day, the day of the international working class, saw mass marches and protests on every continent, as well as scattered strikes, as workers sought to demonstrate their opposition to the policies of right-wing governments and their solidarity with their class brothers and sisters around the world. … Puerto Rico was virtually shut down by a May Day strike against austerity measures imposed by the government of Governor Ricardo Rosselló. Demonstrators blocked roads to enforce a general strike while denouncing the US financial control board overseeing the Rosselló administration. Police fired tear gas and smoke bombs and used pepper spray.: here.

This video from the USA is called May Day protests in Los Angeles. May 1, 2017.

Tens of thousands of immigrant and native-born workers and young people marched across the United States to mark May Day, the holiday of the international working class, and oppose the Trump administrations’ scapegoating of immigrant workers: here.