How Workers Around the Globe Celebrate May Day

Dashiell Bennett

For much of the planet, today is not just the first day of May, it's International Labor Day, and that means marches and protests to honor the (mostly) downtrodden worker. Cities all over the globe have seen massive marches that are half-protest, half-party, and in some cases are met with stiff resistance from police. It's also a venue for the world's remaining socialist and communist movements to let their voice be heard. 

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The May Day celebrations have taken on an extra poignancy in Bangledesh, where protests have already been raging for nearly a week after the collapse of garment factory killed over 400 people and injured thousands more. The tragedy has brought new attention to the plight of third-world workers who make most of their products for first-world customers, and may lead to more protections for the dangerous garment industry. For Europeans, it's also been a great chance to vent anger over several years of difficult austerity budgets. 

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Many of the veterans of the Occupy Wall Street movement are planning events and rallies throughout the day in the United States, but in the rest of the world, the day of marches is already in full swing or even wrapping up. Here are some of the images captured at the various demonstrations around the world.

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GREECE (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

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PHILIPPINES (Reuters/Cheryl Ravelo)

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(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez; and top photo)

IRAQ (Reuters/Mohammed Ameen)

HONG KONG (Reuters/Tyrone Siu; note: not a real dead body)

CAMBODIA (Reuters/Samrang Pring)

(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

NICARAGUA (Reuters/Oswaldo Rivas)

INDONESIA (Reuters/Beawiharta)

SPAIN (Seville; Reuters/Marcelo del Pozo)

(Madrid; AP Photo/Paul White)

SRI LANKA (Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte)

FRANCE (Retuers/Jean-Paul Pelissier)

RUSSIA (All photos: AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

BANGLADESH (AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous)

INDONESIA (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

TURKEY (AP Photo)

SERBIA (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

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SOUTH KOREA (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

TAIWAN (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)