Workers across the globe are taking to the streets Friday for May Day rallies, demanding higher wages, better working conditions, and relief from rising energy costs tied to the Iran war that have eroded purchasing power and threatened livelihoods. The day is a public holiday in many countries, and demonstrations are expected in major cities worldwide as working people confront an economic crisis they say they did not create.
The European Trade Union Confederation, representing 93 trade union organizations in 41 European countries, declared that "working people refuse to pay the price for Donald Trump's war in the Middle East," adding that "today's rallies show working people will not stand by and see their jobs and living standards destroyed." In the United States, activists opposing U.S. President Donald Trump's policies are planning marches and boycotts.
Energy Crisis Hits Workers Hardest
Rising living costs linked to the conflict in the Middle East are expected to dominate Friday's rallies. In Manila, protest organizers anticipate large crowds of workers. Renato Reyes, a leader of the left-wing political group Bayan, said, "There will be a louder call for higher wages and economic relief because of the unprecedented spikes in fuel prices." Josua Mata, leader of SENTRO umbrella group of labor federations, emphasized the global dimension: "Every Filipino worker now is aware that the situation here is deeply connected to the global crisis."
In Indonesia, labor unions have warned against worsening economic pressures at home. Said Iqbal, president of the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation, said, "Workers are already living paycheck to paycheck." In Pakistan, May Day is a public holiday marked by rallies, but many daily wage earners cannot afford to take time off. Mohammad Maskeen, a 55-year-old construction worker near Islamabad, captured the impossible choice facing millions: "How will I bring vegetables and other necessities home if I don't work?" Rising oil prices have fueled inflation, which the government estimates at about 16%, in a country heavily reliant on financial support from the International Monetary Fund and allied nations.
Labor Rights and Economic Justice
Workers' unions traditionally use May Day to rally around wages, pensions, inequality and broader political issues. Protests are planned from Seoul, Jakarta and Istanbul to most European Union capitals and cities across the United States. In France, unions called for demonstrations in Paris and elsewhere under the slogan "bread, peace and freedom," linking workers' daily concerns to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
In Italy, the government approved nearly 1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) in job incentives this week, aiming to promote stable employment and curb labor abuses ahead of May Day. The measures extend tax breaks to encourage hiring young people and disadvantaged women, and seek to address exploitation tied to platform-based work. Opposition parties dismissed the package as "pure propaganda." In Portugal, proposed labor law changes by the center-right government sparked a general strike and street protests last year. There is still no deal after nine months of negotiations with unions and employers. Unions say the proposals would weaken workers' rights, including by expanding overtime limits and reducing some benefits.
Protecting May Day Itself
May Day carries special meaning this year in France after a heated debate about whether employees should be allowed to work on the country's most protected public holiday — the only day when most employees have a mandatory paid day off. Almost all businesses, shops and malls are closed, and only essential sectors such as hospitals, transport and hotels are exempt. A recent parliamentary proposal to expand work on the day prompted major outcry from unions and left-wing politicians. Workers' unions said in a joint statement, "Don't touch May Day."
Faced with the controversy, the government this week introduced a bill meant to expand May Day work to people staffing bakeries and florists. It is customary in France to give lily of the valley flowers on May Day as a symbol of good luck. Small and Medium-sized Businesses Minister Serge Papin said, "May 1 is not just any day," adding, "It symbolizes social gains stemming from a century of building social rules that have led to the labor code we know in France. It is indeed a special day."
U.S. Actions Focus on Inequality
Activists and labor unions are organizing street protests and boycotts across the United States, where May Day is not a federal holiday. May Day Strong, a coalition of activist groups and labor unions, has called on people to protest under the banner of "workers over billionaires." Organizers, voicing strong opposition to Trump's policies, listed thousands of May Day actions across the country and are seeking an economic blackout through "no school, no work, no shopping." Demands include taxing the rich and putting an end to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. While labor and immigrant rights are historically intertwined, the focus of May Day rallies in the U.S. shifted to immigration in 2006, when roughly 1 million people, including nearly half a million in Chicago alone, took to the streets to protest federal legislation that would've made living in the U.S. without legal permission a felony.
May Day, or International Workers' Day, traces back more than a century to a pivotal period in U.S. labor history. In the 1880s, unions pushed for an eight-hour workday through strikes and demonstrations. In May 1886, a Chicago rally turned deadly when a bomb exploded and police responded with gunfire. Several labor activists — most of them immigrants — were convicted of conspiracy and other charges; four were executed. Unions later designated May 1 to honor workers. A monument in Chicago's Haymarket Square commemorates them with the inscription: "Dedicated to all workers of the world." May Day is now observed in much of the world from Europe to Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Why This Matters:
The global coordination of May Day demonstrations reflects how working people across continents face similar pressures: wages that cannot keep pace with rising costs, economic policies shaped by geopolitical conflicts they did not choose, and threats to hard-won labor protections. The rallies highlight the tension between market forces and workers' security, particularly as energy costs tied to military conflict disproportionately burden those with the least financial cushion. From construction workers in Pakistan who cannot afford a day off to platform workers in Italy facing exploitation, the protests reveal structural vulnerabilities in how economies distribute the costs of crisis. The demands for taxing the rich, protecting May Day as a mandatory holiday, and resisting rollbacks of labor rights all point to a broader question about whose interests economic systems serve and whether democratic institutions will act to protect workers or leave them to bear costs alone.