Remarkable pictures from around the world show workers celebrating May Day by burning effigies, battling with police and staging protests by their thousands in a dramatic show of working class solidarity.
Images show more than a dozen protesters being detained in Istanbul on Tuesday after trying to march towards Istanbul’s symbolic main square in defiance of a ban on protests there.
Police can be seen cracking down hard on defiant demonstrators – arresting them with brutal force as they protested against government reforms.
Turkey declared Taksim Square off-limits to May Day celebrations citing security concerns. Roads leading to the square were blocked and police allowed only small groups of labour union representatives to lay wreaths at a monument there.
Still, a group of some 25 people chanting ‘Taksim cannot be off limits on May 1’ tried to push their way into the square but were rounded up by riot police.
Demonstrators in Istanbul were confronted by armed police as they tried to break into the banned protest zone at Taksim square
According to reports more than a dozen protesters were arrested following violent clashes between civilians and armed cops
Dramatic pictures emerging from the scene show defiant demonstrators struggling against policemen as they are hauled away
Taksim holds a symbolic value for Turkey’s labour movement. In 1977, 34 people were killed there during a May Day event when shots were fired into the crowd from a nearby building.
Meanwhile in the Philippines, around 5,000 people from various groups rallied near the presidential palace in Manila.
They were protesting over the failure of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to fulfil a major campaign promise to end contractualisation, the widespread practice of short-term employment.
The protesters also demanded that the government address issues including low wages, unemployment and trade union repression.
In South Korea, thousands of labour union members rallied in central Seoul for a higher minimum wage and other demands.
In the Philippines workers took the opportunity of May Day to protest against controversial incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte
Demonstrators in the Filipino capital Manila set fire to a range of elaborate effigies which they had constructed as part of their protest
In South Korea, hordes of people gathered in the main square in Seoul to offer support to embattled trade unions in the country
They chanted slogans urging the government to implement a 10,000 won (£6.82) minimum wage and convert all non-regular employees to regular workers with equal pay and treatment.
The rally was organised by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. The police estimated the crowd at 10,000 people.
The union members also demanded that the government scrap the restructuring of the shipbuilding and car industries, and reform the huge conglomerates that dominate the South Korean economy.
In Indonesia, about 10,000 workers from various labour groups rallied near the presidential palace in Jakarta to voice their demands.
Most of the workers came from Jakarta and nearby suburbs, but some travelled from West Java and Surabaya.
The protesters urged the government to avoid outsourcing, and to raise their wages. They also asked the government to stop foreign labourers from working in Indonesia, saying it decreases employment opportunities for local workers.
About 2,000 garment workers also gathered at a park in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, for a rally organised by a garment union coalition.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, flag waving protestors graced the streets of the capital as part of their peaceful May Day celebrations
Several thousands also turned out in Colombo, Sri Lanka in a show of force from several of the country’s main worker’s unions
Cambodian workers also used International Workers’ Day to protest about the lack of working-class rights in their country
The workers wanted to march to the National Assembly to urge politicians to help them address labour-related concerns, but the group was stopped by riot police.
Prime Minister Hun Sun spent May Day with some 5,000 garment workers just outside Phnom Penh. He thanked the workers by announcing that each of them will receive 50,000 riel (£9.18). With a general election coming up in July, Mr Hun Sen has for the past year been courting the large bloc of garment workers, whose unions have traditionally been strong supporters of the opposition.
Sri Lanka’s government has postponed the rallies and processions that mark May Day because the week-long celebrations of the national festival of Vesak carry on until May 2 this year.
The government said in a statement that the decision was taken following requests by leading Buddhist monks, who are very influential in the majority Buddhist country. Vesak is also known as Buddha Purnima and marks the enlightenment of Lord Buddha.
The government has asked political parties and trade unions not to hold rallies on May 1. Some have said they will ignore the government directive and mark the day.
Usually, Sri Lankan political parties and trade unions celebrate International Workers’ Day with colourful parades and giant rallies to showcase their political and organisational strength.
The government said it will mark International Workers’ Day on May 7.
Thousands of daring Russians staged a protest in the shadow of the Kremlin in a demonstration aimed at reinforcing the rights of workers
The army of workers could be seen crossing the famous Bolshoy Bridge in Moscow’s city centre as part of their demonstration
In England the celebrations were slightly more tame, with the main event involving several pagans and druids climb Glastonbury tor to watch the sun come up
Hundreds of pagans perched themselves on the side of the hill to watch the sunrise over the fields of the West Country
People dressed up in strange ghoulish outfits to mark the occasion – also known as Beltane – which is believed to be the beginning of summer as well
The Archdruid of Glastonbury and Britain (left) led the ceremony in front of St Michael’s Tower at the famous Somerset landmark
More than 100,000 people came out on the streets on Moscow to march in the traditional May Day parade.
Moscow’s Federation of Trade Unions said about 120,000 people marched from the Red Square on the main streets of the Russian capital to mark May Day.
Over recent years, the parade became a highly orchestrated show of power by Russian authorities and the ruling United Russia party, with the demonstrators refraining from criticizing the government.
In St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, however, Russians unhappy with the Kremlin’s attempts to curtail internet freedom joined the official May Day demonstration.
Several hundred people braved the rainy weather and joined the column marching across St. Petersburg to protest the government’s ban of popular messaging app Telegram.
About 10,000 people rallied in Moscow on Monday to protest the blocking of Telegram.
In Catalonia, thousands of working class people took to the streets to demonstrate over poor working conditions for labourers
The protests, which went through the center of Barcelona, saw people waving Catalan flags in yet another display of Catalonian nationalism
In Hong Kong protestors carried enormous banners in the shape of emojis as they walked in perfectly straight lanes through the city streets
Meanwhile in Tokyo, demonstrators employed their own wacky protest methods, carrying characters from Despicable Me through the streets on floats
In Pakistan the parades were slightly more conventional – as revellers in Lahore celebrated the day with a festival of singing and shouting slogans
In Germany, far-right groups massed in the city of Chemnitz carrying green flags and wearing identical uniforms for their march
Other Germans in Bavaria celebrated with a strange display in which they attempted to erect a maypole in front of gathered crowds
There then followed a traditional beer drinking element to the festivities as the revellers, near Munich in Bavaria, made the most of the day