2013 May Day protests
The 2013 May Day protests were a series of international protests involving hundreds of thousands of people that took place worldwide on May Day (1 May 2013) over the ongoing global economic crisis including austerity measures and poor working conditions.
Asia
[edit]Bangladesh
[edit]Thousands of garment factory workers protested poor working conditions following the 2013 Savar building collapse.[1]
Cambodia
[edit]Five thousand garment workers marched in Phnom Penh demanding better working conditions and wage increases.[1]
Indonesia
[edit]Over 120,000 people from Jakarta and the surrounding cities of Depok, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi gathered at Hotel Indonesia and marched to Merdeka Palace, disrupting business activity in Jakarta.[2]
Philippines
[edit]Eight thousand people marched at Manila.[1]
Singapore
[edit]Six thousand rallied at Hong Lim Park to protest immigration policy and high living costs.[3]
Turkey
[edit]Police clashed with protesters in Istanbul trying to reach Taksim Square. Twenty people were arrested.[1]
Europe
[edit]UK
[edit]Comparatively muted protest in central London compared to the violence of previous years. It received very little mainstream news coverage.[4]
Greece
[edit]Protesters marched in Athens and Thessaloniki. The communist party-affiliated PAME organised a large strike demonstration in Syntagma Square, while GSEE union and the public sector union ADEDY had their rally at Kafthmonos Square. The Athens May Day demonstration was saluted by Bangladeshi workers' representative as well as by Gilda Chacov Bravo, Cuban member of the Secretariat of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).[5]
Spain
[edit]Protesters marched in Madrid and Barcelona.[6] In Barcelona, protesters clashed with police, while activists smashed dozens of bank and shop windows and destroyed bus stops, telephone boxes and trash bins.[7]
Ireland
[edit]North America
[edit]United States
[edit]Protests were held in Seattle, Los Angeles, Manhattan and Chicago.[8]
- Seattle: A violent protest led to the arrest of 17 people.
- Chicago: A protest left from NBC media headquarters with about 200 people. An anarchist Black Bloc took to the streets in Chicago's Michigan Avenue shopping district, starting confrontations with police and one protester was arrested. A small skirmish broke out in front of a Louis Vuitton store between an owner and protester before meeting up with a larger Immigrant Rights and Union march of over 3,000 people.[9]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Workers rally for better conditions on May Day". USA Today. 1 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ Sijabat, Ridwan Max (1 May 2013). "All quiet on the May Day front". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ "May Day protest at Speakers' Corner draws thousands". Yahoo. 1 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ "640_Mac1262". May 2013.
- ^ "May Day 2013 in Greece: Large strike demonstrations by PAME in Athens and Thessaloniki". Revolution Now!. 1 May 2013. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ Wearden, Graeme (1 May 2013). "May Day rallies across Europe as Greek workers strike - as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ "Dos detenidos en la manifestación alternativa del 1 de mayo en Barcelona". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 2 May 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ "May Day demonstrators across U.S. demand immigration reform". CBS News. 1 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ "May Day rally turns violent in Seattle". USA Today. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.