May Day is marked around the world with demands for stronger labor rights

May 1, Labour Day

Banging drums and waving flags, hundreds of thousands of workers marked May Day in European cities Tuesday with a mix of anger and gloom over austerity measures imposed by leaders trying to contain the eurozone's intractable debt crisis.

Taking the baton from Asia, where unions demanded wage increases as they transformed the day from one celebrating workers rights to one of international protest, workers turned out in droves in Greece, France and Spain - the latest focus of a debt nightmare that has already forced three eurozone countries to seek financial bailouts.

In the United States, demonstrations, strikes and acts of civil disobedience were planned, including what could be the country's most high-profile Occupy rallies since the anti-Wall Street encampments came down in the fall.

Under a gray, threatening Madrid sky that reflected the dark national mood, 25-year Adriana Jaime confided she turned out because she speaks three foreign languages and has a masters degree as a translator - but last worked for what she derided as peanuts in a university research project that was to last three years but was cut to three months. Jaime has been unemployed for six months, and sees her future as grim at best.

In France, tens of thousands of workers, leftists and union leaders rallied ahead of a presidential runoff election Sunday that a Socialist is expected to win for the first time since 1988 - a potential turning point in Europe's austerity drive.

Anger has emerged during the campaign at austerity measures pushed by European Union leaders and conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy. Many voters fear Sarkozy will erode France's welfare and worker protections, and see him as too friendly with wealthy. Challenger and poll favorite Francois Hollande has promised high taxes on the rich.

In debt-crippled Greece, more than 2,000 people marched through central Athens in subdued protests. Minor scuffles broke out in Athens when young men targeted political party stands, destroying two and partially burning another. There were no injuries.

Italian Labor Minister Elsa Fornero insisted on the need to reform labor market laws that make it virtually impossible for employers to fire workers in some situations, discouraging hiring. Because of that gridlock and the lack of work in Italy, she said, "It's not a nice May 1st."

The German economy is churning and unemployment is at a record low, but unions held May Day rallies anyway. The DGB umbrella union group sharply criticized Europe's treaty enshrining fiscal discipline and the resulting austerity measures across the continent. The group called instead for a "Marshall Plan" stimulus program to revive the depressed economies of crisis-hit eurozone nations.

Around 100,000 people in Moscow - including President Dmitry Medvedev and President-elect Vladimir Putin - took part in the main May Day march through the city center, though not to protest the government.

Television images showed the two leaders happily chatting with participants on the clear-and-cool spring day. Many banners and placards criticized the Russian opposition movement that has become more prominent in Moscow over the past half-year.

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