Skip to main content
Workers of the world mark May Day with marches and rallies
Pro-Palestinian supporters take part in a May Day protest march at a rally in Cape Town, South Africa, May, 1, 2024

WORKERS across the world took to the streets today, marking International Workers’ Day by protesting against the pressure of rising prices and demanding better employment rights.

In Istanbul, Turkish police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse thousands of people who tried to break through a barricade and reach Taksim Square, where May Day celebrations are banned.

The square holds symbolic value for trade unions. In 1977, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a May Day celebration in the square, causing a stampede and killing 34 people.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Displaced people fleeing Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sit in traffic at a highway links to Beirut, in the southern port city of Sidon, March 2, 2026
Round-up / 2 March 2026
2 March 2026
SOLIDARITY: Rally in Hyde Park during the General Strike of 1926
Features / 30 January 2026
30 January 2026

One hundred years after 1.7m workers shut the country down in defence of the miners, the struggles that sparked the 1926 General Strike are still with us – and will be honoured on London’s May Day march this year, writes MARY ADOSSIDES

RESISTANCE: Police officers disperse demonstrators blocking a road during a protest demanding the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas and calling for the Israeli government to reverse its decision to take over Gaza City and other areas in the Gaza Strip, in Jerusalem yesterday
Features / 18 August 2025
18 August 2025

AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports on the Israeli national strike as thousands call for an end to the war

Kenya anti-riot police barricade roads to Parliament buildings with razor wire, ahead of the historic 1990 Saba Saba, a Swahili word that means seven seven, protests for democratic reforms in Nairobi, Kenya, July 7, 2025
Kenya / 7 July 2025
7 July 2025