May Day photo gallery: Texas, Wisconsin, and around the world
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011
Istanbul--200,000 rally at Taksim Square (photo Reuters-Stringer)
May 1, 2011, Istanbul, Turkey–200,000 people march. Milwaukee, Wisconsin–100,000. These were among the largest events in the world on May Day, International Workers Day–or simply Labor Day for most of the world, El Dia del Trabajo.
Born in the U.S. in 1886 in the struggle for the 8-hour day, May Day was associated with anarchists, socialists, and communists, so the U.S. government undermined it with the establishment of a new and innocuous “Labor Day” holiday in September. Kept barely alive by a few leftists, May Day was brought back to the U.S. in a big way by immigrants in 2006 and became a big day for the expression of immigrant issues and the demand for immigrant rights. As U.S. workers tried to reclaim our holiday,
Milwaukee (photo Tom Lynn, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
consciousness grew about the need for solidarity with workers all over the world, and more U.S. workers joined with immigrants in the celebration of this holiday. The biggest expression of this unity in 2011 was in Wisconsin.
Some of the issues around the world: More jobs, union rights, better working conditions, higher wages to counter higher prices for food and fuel; migrant worker rights; an end to the growing income gap between rich and poor; democratic political rights and an end to autocratic governments; an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ciudad Monte, Tamaulipas, Mexico--workers remember the "martyrs of Chicago" along with their own fallen comrades (noticiaselmexicano.com) Dhaka, Bangladesh (photo Pavel Rahman-AP)
Beirut, Lebanon (photo Migrant Workers Task Force)
Ankara, Turkey (photo Umit Bektas-Reuters)
Manila, Philippines--workers demand immediate wage increase, burn President Benigno Aquino III in effigy (photo Aaron Favila-AP)Jakarta, Indonesia (photo Irwin Fedriansyah-AP)
Hyderabad--All India Trade Union Congress (photo Mahesh Kumar A.-AP)
Mumbai--Striking Air India pilots (photo Vivek Prakash-Reuters)
Katmandu--Supporters of CP (Maoist) and activists of Nepal Trade Union (photo Binod Joshi-AP)
Baghdad--Members of the Iraqi Communist Party (photo Khalid Mohammed-AP)
Basra (Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq--uslaboragainstwar.org)
Cairo, Egypt--May Day in Tahrir Square (photo Khalil Hamra-AP)
Lahore, Pakistan--Union workers rally (photo K.M. Chaudary-AP)
Madrid, Spain (photo Arturo Rodriguez-AP)
Moscow, Russia--members of the Left Front (photo Ivan Sekretarev-AP)
Lisbon, Portugal--Against the IMF, for Leftist Unity (photo Armando Franca-AP)
Caracas, Venezuela (photo Ariana Cubillos-AP)
Havana, Cuba--Students in Revolution Square (photo Enrique de la Osa-Reuters)
Mexico City--Workers protesting labor law "reform" burn image of Labor Secretary Javier Lozano (photo Marco Ugarte-AP)
Houston (thefirecollective.org)
Houston (thefirecollective.org)
Dallas (labordallas.org)
San Antonio (blogs.sacurrent.com)
Atlanta, GA--Protesters urge Gov. Nathan Deal to veto anti-immigrant legislation (photo Rich Addicks-AP)
New York--rally for jobs and immigrant rights (photo Seth Wenig-AP)
Los Angeles, California (photo L.A. County Federation of Labor)
Milwaukee--Voces de la Frontera has been organizing big May Day marches since 2006 (photo Tom Lynn-Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Milwaukee--This says it all (photo Tom Lynn-Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
