May Day: World’s workers rally, France sees pension anger

PARIS (AP) — People squeezed by inflation and demanding economic justice took to the streets across Asia and Europe to mark May Day on Monday, in a global outpouring of worker discontent not seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic sent the world into lockdowns.

French police charged at radical protesters smashing bank windows as unions pushed the president to scrap a higher retirement age. South Koreans pleaded for higher wages. Spanish lawyers demanded the right to take days off. Migrant domestic workers in Lebanon marched in a country plunged in economic crisis.

While May Day is marked around the world on May 1 as a celebration of labour rights, this year's rallies tapped into broader frustrations. Climate activists spraypainted a Louis Vuitton museum in Paris, and protesters in Germany demonstrated against violence targeting women and LGBTQ+ people.

Celebrations were forced indoors in Pakistan and tinged with political tensions in Turkey, as both countries face high-stakes elections. Russia's war in Ukraine overshadowed scaled-back events in Moscow, where Communist-led May Day celebrations were once massive affairs.

Across Asia, this year's May Day events unleashed pent-up frustration after three years of COVID-19 restrictions. This year's events had bigger turnouts than in previous years in Asian cities, as activists in many countries argued governments should do more to improve workers' lives.

Across France, thousands marched in what unions hope are the country's biggest May Day demonstrations in years, mobilised against President Emmanuel Macron's recent move to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Organisers see the pension reform as a threat to hard-fought worker rights, while Macron argues it's economically necessary as the population ages.

While marchers were largely peaceful, groups of extremist protesters shattered windows of stores and banks in Paris, drawing tear gas from rows of riot police. One was filmed dismantling a surveillance camera, and French police deployed drones exceptionally to film unrest, a move that has raised concerns among privacy defenders and activist groups. Paris police detained 30 people, and clashes were reported in Lyon and Nantes.

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