WORKERS across the world pressed demands for the protection of those on the front line as May Day celebrations were scaled back as a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic today.

General secretary of France’s CGT trade union federation Philippe Martinez said: “This is an opportunity to bear the social demands that we have been defending for a long time and that the crisis has highlighted.”

The country remains on lockdown and the rally traditionally held in Paris was cancelled with people urged to flood social media and join solidarity actions on their balconies.