May Day protests: From Bangladesh to Europe, angry workers rally in the tens of thousands

In Jakarta, Indonesia, some of the tens of thousands of demonstrators marching through the city came dressed as ants – complete with bright red outfits and antennae – to depict the exploitation of workers. 

And in Greece, trains, buses, and ferries sat vacant and hospitals nearly empty as thousands of public sector employees walked off the job in a one-day strike.

Each year, May 1, better known as May Day, is marked with labor rallies and strikes around the world. And this year's holiday came at a particularly prescient moment in many parts of the world. 

From Europe, where the bite of austerity has left many facing down unemployment and reduced benefits, to South and SoutheastAsia, a region cluttered with precariously-built factories similar to the one that collapsed last week in Bangladesh, demonstrators gathered to vent outrage and demand reform.

“My brother has died. My sister has died. Their blood will not be valueless,” yelled one Bangladeshi protestor through a crackling loudspeaker, according to the Associated Press.

As the march wove through downtown Dhaka, rescue workers in the industrial suburb of Savar continued their search for bodies and survivors in the rubble of Rana Plaza, which collapsed suddenly on April 24 with thousands of garment workers inside.

The disaster at the factory, which manufactured clothing for several low-end Western retailers, touched off global outrage about the working conditions of garment workers across the developing world. In Phnom Pehn, Cambodia, workers rallied for higher wages and safer working conditions. In Manila, Philipines, where labor unions are banned, workers marched to demand the right to organize. And in HongKong, thousands turned out in support of striking dock workers, calling for wages that would help close the income gap between the country’s rich and its poor.

Source: csmonitor

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