Global General

May Day marked by workers around world

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-02 09:27

People attend a grand parade and rally to mark the May Day and show solidarity with their country, in Havana, capital of Cuba, May 1, 2010. [Xinhua]

They set out from the central railway station and passed through the city's main roads, holding red flags, banners written with their appeals and figures of Karl Marx (1818-1883). They loudly sang the Internationale and ended the march in Hakaniemi Square, where they joined people from different communities for a grand celebration.

Financial crisis-hit Greece was almost paralyzed by a new series of strikes and demonstrations. Labor unions organized marches across the country against austerity measures and the EU-IMF support mechanism for the Greek economy, ending in minor violence in Athens.

According to unconfirmed information, two protesters were slightly injured and police arrested about 20 people.

Tens of thousands of Greek citizens took to the streets of Athens and major cities to protest cutbacks on salaries, raises in taxes, reforms to the pension system and a new package of more harsh measures expected to be announced in the following hours.

In Nepal, the International Labor Day was being marked all over the country with various programs.

Different political parties, their affiliated organizations, trade unions, labor unions from hotel and factories celebrated the May Day as a landmark for the establishment of their rights.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal extended his best wishes to all the workers and expressed his belief that this May Day would be successful in establishing the rights of the ordinary people.

Communist Party of Nepal leader Jhalanath Khanal expressed his good wishes for workers, saying all the workers of the world were equal and should therefore unite for their own sake.

Commemorations or demonstrations were also reported in Singapore and Indonesia.

In Africa, workers in Ghana joined their counterparts throughout the world, staging celebrations under the theme: "Consolidating Workers' Solidarity ..."

In Palestine, hundreds of unemployed workers in the Gaza Strip called on Israel to end more than three years of siege.

Witnesses said hundreds of workers rallied near the Erez crossing point between the northern tip of the coastal enclave and Israel. They waved Palestinian flags and raised banners calling on Israel to end the blockade, and the Palestinian rival factions to end their feuds and reunite.

Around 150,000 workers in the Gaza Strip have been unemployed since Israel imposed a tight blockade on the enclave right after the Islamic Hamas movement seized control of it by force in June 2007. The tight Israeli blockade has hit all aspects of life in the impoverished area.

The participants in the rally, which was arranged by left-wing Gaza-based groups, also called on the Hamas government to annul its latest decision to collect extra taxes on cigarettes, fuels and other products. Hamas recently decided to reactivate the taxes law in the Gaza Strip.

The witnesses said Hamas police barred the demonstrators from reaching the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel for fear of clashes with the Israeli army, which was on alert during the demonstration.