Thousands march in Moscow’s Red Square for May Day rally

Trade unions and other groups are staging rallies around the world to mark International Workers Day. A look at some May Day events:

RUSSIA

Tens of thousands of people marched across Moscow’s Red Square on a sunny Sunday morning in a pro-Kremlin workers’ rally. The protesters were carrying the Russian tricolor and balloons.

As is typical for rallies organized by the ruling United Russia party, the May Day rally steered clear of criticizing President Vladimir Putin or his government for falling living standards. The slogans focused on wages and jobs for young professionals.

Left-wing Russian groups held their own rallies.

This year the May Day coincided with the Orthodox Easter in Russia. Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov told Russian news agencies ahead of the rally that he celebrates Easter despite the Communist party’s history of oppressing the Russian Church. When a supporter greeted him with “Christ has risen!” Zyuganov echoed “He is risen indeed!” in a traditional Orthodox greeting.

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TURKEY

Turkish police on Sunday used tear gas and water cannons to disperse dozens of May Day demonstrators in Istanbul.

Security forced detained several people to prevent them from gathering in Istanbul’s iconic Taksim Square. Small scuffles broke out. Taksim has symbolic meaning as the center of protests in which 34 people were killed in 1977.

In the nearby Istanbul district of Sisli, police fired tear gas and water cannon to scatter other protesters.

Up to 15,000 police and 120 water cannons were deployed across Istanbul, according to Anadolu Agency.

May Day marches were held elsewhere in Turkey without incident but were cancelled in the southern city of Gaziantep after of a car bomb attack on a police station.

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TAIWAN

In Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, labor unions took to the streets with a march to call on the government to reduce working hours and increase wages.

Many among the Taiwanese public have been concerned that outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou’s push for closer economic ties with China has benefited just a few. Young Taiwanese have seen wages stagnate and good full-time jobs harder to find as the export-led economy has slowed.

Chen Li-jen, a protester with the Taiwan Petroleum Workers Union, said that while companies were seeing their earnings per share grow every year, workers’ salaries were not rising in tandem.

“Hardworking laborers are being exploited by consortiums,” Chen said.

“For the past decade, our basic salary has not made any progress,” he said. “Laborers’ rights have always been neglected. This is why I hope to take advantage of the May 1 Labor Day protest and tell the government that we are determined to fight for our rights.”