In France, hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest the pension reform approved by President Emmanuel Macron, in demonstrations in Paris that included clashes between police and demonstrators in particular.
Today, Monday, several marches took place in many cities and capitals of the world to celebrate Labor Day.
In France, hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest the pension reform approved by President Emmanuel Macron, in demonstrations in Paris that included clashes between police and demonstrators.
The General Secretary of the General Confederation of Labor, Sophie Binet, said that the participation rate “on this first of May is one of the largest” in the history of Labor Day in the country.
In turn, the Secretary-General of the “French Democratic Confederation of Labor” Laurent Berger considered that “the rate of mobilization is very large.”
However, this participation, despite its importance, remains much less than what the unions were counting on, as they were expecting the participation of more than one and a half million demonstrators throughout France.
According to estimates by the authorities, between 500,000 and 650,000 demonstrators took to the streets across the country, including between 80 and 100,000 demonstrators in the capital, Paris, where clashes took place between police and protesters.
This year’s Labor Day marks the 13th day of sweeping national action against a controversial pension reform that has met with widespread opposition from various segments of French society.
In the Turkish capital, Istanbul, the authorities closed Taksim Square and arrested a number of people who tried to demonstrate in it.
Labor Day comes two weeks before the date of the Turkish presidential and legislative elections, in which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces his biggest challenge since assuming power in the country.
The Communist People’s Liberation Front party organized a march carrying pictures of Karl Marx in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. The march demanded better wages for workers and better conditions for them.
More than 4,000 people took part in a demonstration in the German capital, Berlin, called by the Federation of Trade Unions.
In the Lebanese capital, Beirut, a march of Lebanese and foreign workers took place in solidarity with the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Members of various labor unions participated in the Labor Day rallies in Rabat on Monday, protesting the high prices and “hitting the purchasing power” of the consumer, as high inflation rates in the Kingdom caused an increase in food prices in particular.
Hundreds of trade unionists, of different affiliations, participated in a peaceful march in the center of the capital.
The demonstrators chanted slogans that focused on rejecting the high prices and “destroying the purchasing power” of the citizen, while other slogans called for “the overthrow of corruption.”
Some demonstrators called on Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch to leave.
In particular, the unions are calling on the government to take a series of measures to support the purchasing power of citizens. Among the most prominent of these demands is setting a ceiling on fuel prices and reducing the value-added tax on basic materials.
