Source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/may_day_2012.html
May Day 2012
May Day was marked
once again around the globe with political protests and demonstrations
by organized labor. The Occupy Wall Street movement, which formed last
year in New York, used the day to spread its message of social and
economic inequality. Also known as International Workers Day, May 1 is
marked in different ways around the world, and in many countries May Day
is observed as a national holiday. This celebration of the
international labor movement stemmed from a deadly 1886 labor
demonstration in Chicago calling for an eight-hour workday. -- Lloyd Young(39 photos total)
An
Occupy demonstrator confronts a police officer during a rally in the
streets as part of a nationwide May Day protest in Oakland, Calif. on
May 1. (Jana Asenbrennerova/Reuters)
Demonstrators
gather around a fire in Lindenstrasse near the Jewish Museum during a
May Day anti-capitalism protest on May 1 in Berlin, Germany. This year
marks 25 years since a 1987 Berlin May Day demonstration turned violent
and has been followed by clashes between participants and police on May
Day in Berlin almost every year since. (Carsten Koall/Getty Images) #
An
anti-capitalist protester from the Occupy movement lays in front of a
police officer in Paternoster Square, which is adjacent to St Paul's
Cathedral, their previous place of occupation on May 1 in London,
England. Students, trade unionists, pensioners and activists from the
anti-capitalist Occupy movement marched through the center of London
before congregating and staging a demonstration in Trafalgar Square to
mark May Day. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) #
People
weave in and out of one another as they wind red twine around a Maypole
during a gathering of Occupy DC at Meridan Hill Park, also known as
Malcolm X Park on May 1 in Washington, D.C. Organized by the Occupy DC
Labor Committee, Anarchist Alliance DC Network, Industrial Workers of
the World, Washington Peace Center, the Metropolitan Washington Council
of the AFL-CIO and the Amalgamated Transit Union local 689, about 300
people gathered in the park to celebrate May Day, also known as
International Workers Day, a celebration of the international labor
movement. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) #
Militants
and labor union members gather around a burning the effigy of
Philippine President Benigno Aquino in Manila on May 1 as part of the
May Day protests demanding higher wages and policies that would make it
harder to fire workers. Aquino has said he is trying to help labor but
has warned that giving too many benefits will make the country less
competitive, costing more jobs. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images) #
Pakistani
working women carry candles as they march for better wages and
conditions during a May Day rally in Karachi on May 1. Pakistan has a
workforce of around 56 million people among a population of 179 million,
according to Pakistan's official figures compiled by the Federal Bureau
of Statistics. (Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images) #
A
Trafalgar Square Heritage Warden talks with a protester from the Occupy
movement after he erected a tent during a demonstration in Trafalgar
Square in London on May 1. Students, trade unionists, pensioners and
activists from the anti-capitalist Occupy movement marched through the
center of London before congregating and staging a demonstration in
Trafalgar Square to mark May Day. (Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images) #
A
police lieutenant swings his baton at an Occupy Wall Street activists
on May 1 in New York. Activists with a variety of causes spread out over
New York City Tuesday on International Workers Day, or May Day, with
Occupy Wall Street members leading a charge against financial
institutions. (Mary Altaffer/Associated Press) #
A
supporter holds up a framed picture of Venezuela's President Hugo
Chavez during a May Day march in Caracas, Venezuela on May 1. Venezuelan
workers commemorated May Day with two separate marches, one organized
by supporters of Chavez and the other by his opponents. (Ariana
Cubillos/Associated Press) #
Demonstrators
burn an effigy of Bolivia's President Evo Morales with a sign that
reads "Careful, this brute is on the loose," during a May Day march in
La Paz, Bolivia. Morales announced Tuesday his government is completing
the nationalization of the country's electricity industry by taking over
its electrical grid from a Spanish-owned company. (Juan
Karita/Associated) #
A
Bolivian miner looks out of his car, in front of a police line, during
May Day celebrations in La Paz. President Evo Morales announced on May
Day that Bolivia is nationalizing the local unit TDE of Spain's Red
Electrica, citing the company's lack of investment in the country as the
reason. The sign on the car reads, "Long live May Day. Down with
changes in the labor law." (Reuters) #
A
demonstrator from the Occupy London movement offers a flower to a
commuter during a protest inside London Liverpool Street train station
in London, U.K., on May 1. Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, whose
anti-greed message spread worldwide during an eight-week encampment in
Lower Manhattan last year, planned marches across the globe calling
attention to what they say are abuses of power and wealth. (Chris
Ratcliffe/Bloomberg) #
A
homeless person sleeps among placards before the May Day workers march
in Lisbon on May 1. The placards read in Portuguese: "Fear", "Danger",
"Steps from the Abyss" and "Full of Rage". The march was marked by
protests against economic austerity measures and labor law reforms, that
included cut holiday entitlement, more flexible working hours and cut
compensation for layoffs, that have been enacting by the Portuguese
government in return to a 78 billion euro ($112 billion) bailout
received in 2011. (Francisco Seco/Associated Press) #
An
activist of Sri Lanka's Marxist political party, People's Liberation
Front, drinks water from a bottle as a billboard of Communist leaders
from left, Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are displayed
in the background during a street march to celebrate international Labor
Day known as May Day in Colombo, Sri Lanka. May Day moved beyond its
roots as an international workers holiday to a day of international
protest Tuesday, with rallies throughout Asia demanding wage increases
and marches planned across Europe over government-imposed austerity
measures. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/Associated Press) #
A
protestor wearing a Guy Fawkes mask carries a sign during May Day
demonstrations in Santa Monica, Calif. on May 1. Occupy Wall Street
sought to breathe fresh life into the movement that sparked a wave of
nationwide protests against economic injustice eight months ago with May
Day events across the United States on Tuesday and a call for a general
strike that went unheeded. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters) #
An
Occupy protester gives a gesture in front of a downtown Miami Bank of
America building on May 1 as part of the May Day protests. Activists
across the United States joined the worldwide May Day protests on
Tuesday, with Occupy Wall Street members in several cities leading
demonstrations against major financial institutions. (J Pat
Carter/Associated Press) #
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