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2009 May Day protests

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The 2009 May Day protests are a series of international protests that have taken place across Europe, Asia and in the other parts of the world over the current global economic crisis. Several May Day marches, which are traditional events, have turned violent in Germany, Turkey and Venezuela as riot police battled protesters in their respective countries. Banks and shops have been attacked in Turkey.[1]

Further marches have taken place in Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines, Japan and Hong Kong, Cuba, Italy and Spain.[1]

By country

Americas

United States

Marches in support of May Day take place all across the country. In San Francisco, upwards of 50 people riot through Union Square and the financial district, attacking upper-class storefronts.[2] [3]

Venezuela

Parallel marches consisting pro- and anti-government unions and organizations took place around the country. An opposition protest of a few thousand was dispersed after organizers attempted to re-route the march toward the National Assembly. Demonstrators began to pass through barrricades. Marchers also damaged a Pdval food distribution point, according to government sources. [1] [2] [4]

Asia

Cambodia

Over 1,000 textile and hotel workers marched through Phnom Penh to the location of Chea Vichea's 2004 assassination.[5] Vichea led Cambodia's biggest labour union before he was killed in January that year.[5]

Hong Kong

Several hundred workers marched peacefully through Hong Kong in protest against job cuts and reduced working hours.[6] Two protests were organised by pro-government and opposition labour unions.[6]

Macao

Protesters (500 according to organizers, 400 according to police) marched to the Government House on issues such as illegal workers and public housing. With the election of the Chief Executive approaching, some protesters raised the banner "Against Businessmen Ruling Macao".[7]

South Korea

8,000 workers and students participated in a rally in a park in Seoul, calling for an end to layoffs and wage cuts.[8]

Taiwan

Despite clashes between protesters and police in Taipei, no arrests were reported. In one of the largest May Day protests there in recent times, 10,000 people marched against record high levels of unemployment nearing 6%.[9]

Europe

Austria

A large crowd gathered at Vienna's city hall. According to the Social Democratic Party of Austria, 100,000 people attended the rally. On the Ringstraße, a march organized by the KPÖ (the Communist Party of Austria) took place. Some three to five hundred people showed up. The final rally was held in front of the parliament. There were also other minor marches in Vienna. At a march in Linz, also organized by the KPÖ, police and protesters clashed. On both sides, people were injured. Five people were arrested.[citation needed]

France

France's eight major trade unions decided to unite in their May Day rallies for the first time since the end of World War II.[10] Several tens of thousands of people marched in three hundred protests through cities such as Bordeaux, Grenoble, Marseille and Paris.[1][10] One of Grenoble's Schaeffler worker banners said, "Work, not death".[10] Fishermen and hospital and university staff engaged in strike action.[1]

Germany

Violence was expected among far right and far left demonstrators and police.[11] German police arrested twelve people after twenty-nine police were injured by two hundred protesters shouting anti-capitalist slogans in Berlin.[1] Forty-nine demonstrators were arrested after several incidents involving bottle-throwing, rock-throwing, and setting fires.[8] Between Berlin and Hamburg, over fifty riot police were injured.[12]

Iceland

The turnout at the May Day rally in Reykjavík was double the number seen the many last years. Activists from the January uprising, along with anarchists brandishing anarcho-communist flags, booed at Gylfi Arnbjörnsson, the leader of the main trade union in Iceland, as he suggested in his speech that Iceland enter the EU.

Italy

L'Aquila was the central meeting point of a rally held by union leaders following a deadly earthquake.[8]

Russia

In Moscow, approximately 2,000 Communists gathered at a statue of Karl Marx.[8] Police arrested around one hundred members of far right and anti-immigrant demonstrators counter-protesting in Saint Petersburg.[8]

Spain

Demonstrators collected in the centre of Madrid.[8]

Turkey

At least eight people, including two police, were injured as police in Istanbul attempted to disperse hundreds of demonstrators with tear gas and water cannons.[8][13] Several hundred protesters dispersed authorities with rocks in the Şişli central district.[13] The demonstrators chanted slogans such as "hand in hand against fascism", "repression won't stop us" and "long live the revolution and socialism".[8] The Turkish government bowed to trade union pressure and declared May Day a public holiday.[12]

Africa

Kenya

A government official was forced to cut short his speech and abandon the May Day rally as angry workers hurled stones at dignitaries in protest over the government's refusal to deal with difficult living conditions [14]

References

Wikinews has related news:
  1. ^ a b c d e "Police battle May Day protesters". BBC. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  2. ^ ""Riot Hits San Francisco On May Day!"". "IndyBay.org". 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Text "05-02" ignored (help)
  3. ^ ""Anti-Capitalism Protesters smash windows near Union Square"". "ABC 7, KGO-TV San Francisco, CA". 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Text "05-02" ignored (help)
  4. ^ "Venezuela police break up opposition march". "Reuters". 2009-05-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accesdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b "1,000 Cambodians rally". The Straits Times. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009-05-01. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ a b "May Day protests in HK". The Straits Times. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009-05-01. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Several Organizations Hold Protest Police Keeps Order". Macao Daily News. 2009-05-02. Retrieved 2009-05-02. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h "Worldwide May Day rallies". The Straits Times. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009-05-01. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "Thousands of workers march to support labor rights in Taipei". The China Post. 2009-05-02. Retrieved 2009-05-02. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ a b c "May Day rallies around the world". The Straits Times. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009-05-01. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Berlin braces for possible May Day violence". Globe and Mail. 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  12. ^ a b "May Day clashes throughout Europe". The Irish Times. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009-05-01. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ a b "Financial crisis fuels May Day protests". RTÉ. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  14. ^ The day Kenya workers’ anger boiled over http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/593070/-/u6683d/-/index.html
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