Global May Day strikes demand wages as Iran war strains workers

May Day rallies are scheduled worldwide on Friday, with activists calling for peace, higher wages, and improved working conditions as workers grapple with rising energy costs and diminished purchasing power linked to the Iran war. The European Trade Union Confederation, representing 93 trade union organizations in 41 European countries, issued a statement saying "working people refuse to pay the price for Donald Trump's war in the Middle East," adding that workers will not stand by while their jobs and living standards are destroyed. Demonstrations are planned from Seoul, Jakarta, and Istanbul to most European Union capitals and cities across the United States, where activists are organizing street protests and boycotts under the banner "workers over billionaires." Economic pressures tied to the Middle East conflict are expected to be a key theme at many rallies. In the Philippines, protest organizers expect large crowds calling for higher wages and economic relief due to unprecedented spikes in fuel prices. Indonesia's labor unions warned that workers are already living paycheck to paycheck, while Pakistan faces inflation of about 16% and heavily relies on financial support from the International Monetary Fund and allied nations. In the United States, May Day Strong coalition has called for an "economic blackout" through "no school, no work, no shopping," with demands including taxing the rich and ending the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. In France, May Day carries special significance after heated debate over whether employees should be allowed to work on the country's most protected public holiday. A recent parliamentary proposal to expand work on the day prompted major outcry from unions and left-wing politicians. The government this week introduced a bill to expand May Day work only to people staffing bakeries and florists, where it is customary to give lily of the valley flowers as a symbol of good luck. Italy approved nearly 1 billion euros in job incentives this week to promote stable employment and curb labor abuses ahead of May Day, while Portugal continues negotiations over proposed labor law changes that unions say would weaken workers' rights. The day tracing back to May 1886 in Chicago, when a rally for the eight-hour workday turned deadly after a bomb exploded and police responded with gunfire, has evolved into an international observance. Four labor activists were executed following the Haymarket Square incident, and unions later designated May 1 to honor workers worldwide. A monument in Chicago's Haymarket Square bears the inscription "Dedicated to all workers of the world," and May Day is now observed in much of the world from Europe to Latin America, Africa and Asia.