International Labor Day, a day that commemorates a time of civil unrest when workers called for improved working conditions in the late 19th century, was marked with more unrest on Wednesday.
In Bangladesh where the collapse of a factory building killed nearly 400 people, protestors on Labor Day, also called May Day, demanded the execution of factory bosses over Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster.
Despite calls by the government's call for "cool heads", tensions over Bangladesh's deadliest industrial disaster spawnd fears of more violence and vandalism at textile mills, a report of the Agence-France Presse (AFP) said.
In Turkey, riot police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds gathering in central Istanbul for Labor Day, the Reuters news agency reported.
Greece's 24-hour walkout was called by its two major public and private sector unions. It is the latest in a long line of strikes and protests in the debt-laden country ravaged by its sixth year of recession and popular fury over wage and spending cuts.
"Our message today is very clear: Enough with these policies which hurt people and make the poor poorer," Ilias Iliopoulos, general secretary of public sector union ADEDY, told Reuters.
In Istanbul, thousands of police were stationed across the city center to block access to the main Taksim square as crowds of protesters converged in different parts of the city early in the morning attempting to storm police barricades.
In Istanbul, thousands of police were stationed across the city center to block access to the main Taksim square as crowds of protesters converged in different parts of the city early in the morning attempting to storm police barricades.
In Greece, trains and ferries were cancelled and hospital staff walked off the job on Wednesday as workers marked May Day with a strike against harsh austerity required by the country's foreign lenders, Reuters reported.
At the Vatican, AFP said Pope Francis on Wednesday urged political leaders to make every effort to create jobs and said unemployment was caused by economic thinking "outside the bounds of social justice."
"I call on politicians to make every effort to relaunch the labor market," the pope told thousands of followers at his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square.
In the Philippines, labor groups held protests outside Malacañang, criticizing the Aquino administration for its supposed "empty promises" to Filipino workers.
Leody de Guzman, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) president, lamented the government's supposed inability to raise wages in the country.
"Workers will go home empty handed on this year’s Labor Day. Noynoy is halfway through his six-year term in office, but he could not even raise wages so as to prove that the much publicized economic growth could trickle down to the workers and the poor," De Guzman said in a statement issued Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Hans Leo Cacdac told GMA News Online that the Philippine government will strive to provide better service to
"hard working, talented, and dedicated local and overseas Filipino workers."
“We promise to build on our efforts to improve service delivery, expedite processes of OFW documentation, engage foreign governments in bilateral or multilateral arrangements, combat illegal recruitment and recruitment violations, and intensify our fight against fixers, corruption, and red tape,” Cacdac said.
According to the website Time and Date.com, "May Day, which usually occurs on May 1 in many countries, stems from ancient customs associated with the celebration of spring. It is also a national holiday for workers in many countries around the world." - with Andrei Medina, Veronica Pulumbarit, GMA News
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