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Activists worldwide marked International Workers’ Day on Friday with rallies and street protests that, across regions, tied demands for peace and labor protections to mounting economic pressures associated with the Iran war. The Associated Press reported demonstrations in cities including Casablanca, Istanbul and Santiago, as well as marches in European capitals and protests in multiple U.S. locations.
May 1 is a public holiday in many countries, commonly observed as International Workers’ Day or Labor Day, when unions typically rally around wages, pensions and inequality, along with broader political issues. Organizers in multiple places described rising living costs—alongside shrinking purchasing power—as a central theme of the day’s events.
In Morocco’s largest city, Casablanca, taxi drivers honked and bus drivers parked their vehicles to protest higher fuel costs, according to the AP report. Akherraz Lhachimi of the Moroccan Labor Union said, “All my expenses have gone up, but my wages haven’t budged.”
In South Africa, the AP said several rallies were staged, with Zingiswa Losi, the head of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, saying workers were “suffocating” under rising costs of food, electricity, transportation and healthcare. In Portugal, the AP reported that several thousand people gathered as unions rallied to protest proposed changes to labor laws, including making worker dismissals easier and reducing miscarriage bereavement leave.
In Turkey, the AP reported that Turkish authorities in Istanbul detained hundreds of demonstrators who attempted to march in areas declared off-limits on security grounds, including central Taksim Square, described as the epicenter of 2013 protests. The AP said May Day rallies in Turkey have frequently been marked by clashes with authorities.
In Chile, the AP reported that a demonstration in Santiago ended with vandalism and clashes between protesters and police, who used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd. In France, the day’s labor-focused observances took on a special element after a debate about whether employees should be allowed to work on May Day, which the report described as the country’s most protected public holiday and the only day when most employees have a mandatory paid day off.
The AP said tens of thousands of people joined marches across France, including in Paris where brief scuffles with police broke out. Almost all businesses, shops and malls were closed, with only essential sectors such as hospitals, transport and hotels exempt, the report said, after a parliamentary proposal to expand work on the day prompted outcry from unions and left-wing politicians. The government introduced a bill allowing bakeries and florists to open, and Small and Medium-sized Businesses Minister Serge Papin said, “May 1 is not just any day,” adding that it “symbolizes social gains stemming from a century of building social rules that have led to the labor code we know in France.”
In the United States, May Day is not a federal holiday, and the AP reported protests organized around an effort dubbed May Day Strong. The coalition of activist groups and labor unions urged people to protest under the banner “workers over billionaires” and called for an economic blackout through “no school, no work, no shopping,” while many demonstrators voiced opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies, including his immigration crackdown.
Kathryn Stender, an activist with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, was quoted by the AP saying, “We’re seeing tons and tons of attacks on working people and on oppressed communities from the Trump administration, both at home and abroad.” The report described the Chicago rally as festive, with Native American dancers and mariachi bands, and said some protesters used monarch butterfly signs that have become a symbol of the immigrant rights movement.
The AP also described demonstrations at U.S. transportation sites and in major cities. Protesters blocked a road outside the international terminal at San Francisco’s airport, leading to street closures for about two hours and prompting authorities to warn passengers to allow extra travel time. In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani addressed a supportive crowd at a Manhattan rally organized by unions and immigrant advocates, reiterating his promise to raise taxes on the wealthy and to “protect our neighbors from the cruelty of ICE,” or Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Separately, the AP reported that state and city elected officials were arrested, including Supervisor Connie Chan, whose office said she was detained, cited and released. It also said police arrested multiple people at a protest outside the New York Stock Exchange, though authorities did not have an exact count or information on charges, and that video showed some protesters tried to chain themselves to a railing while one struggled with officers.
The Associated Press traced May Day’s U.S. roots to labor mobilizations dating back more than a century, including the 1880s push for an eight-hour workday and the Chicago rally in May 1886 that turned deadly after a bomb exploded and police responded with gunfire. Unions later designated May 1 to honor workers, the AP said, noting that a monument in Chicago’s Haymarket Square bears the inscription: “Dedicated to all workers of the world.”