World's workers rally to mark May Day as France sees fresh pension protests

Outgoing French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT) union's general secretary Laurent Berger (2L), soon-to-be acting CFDT leader leader Marylise Leon (CL), French CGT trade union General Secretary Sophie Binet (CR), French Solidaires trade union co general delegate Murielle Guilbert (R) take part in a demonstration on May Day (Labour Day), to mark the international day of the workers, more than a month after the government pushed an unpopular pensions reform act through parliament, in Paris, on May 1, 2023. © Alain Jocard, AFP

People squeezed by inflation and demanding economic justice took to streets across Asia, Europe and the Americas on Monday to mark May Day, in an outpouring of worker discontent not seen since before the worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns.

French police charged at radical protesters and troublemakers smashing bank and shop windows and setting fires as unions pushed the president to scrap a higher retirement age. South Koreans pleaded for higher wages as did others around Latin America. Spanish lawyers demanded the right to take days off. Migrant domestic workers in Lebanon marched in a country plunged into economic crisis.