Workers and activists across Asia hold May Day rallies to call for greater labor rights

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Workers, activists and others in Asian capitals marked May Day with rallies and marches to call for better working conditions and greater labor rights.

May Day, which falls on May 1, is observed in many countries as a day to celebrate workers’ rights. May Day events have also given many an opportunity to air general economic grievances or political demands.

In Seoul, the South Korean capital, thousands of protesters sang, waved flags and shouted pro-labor slogans at the start of their rally on Wednesday. Organizers said their rally was primarily meant to step up their criticism of what they call anti-labor policies pursued by the conservative government led by President Yoon Suk Yeol.

“In the past two years under the Yoon Suk Yeol government, the lives of our laborers have plunged into despair,” Yang Kyung-soo, leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which organized the rally, said in a speech. “We can’t overlook the Yoon Suk Yeol government. We’ll bring them down from power for ourselves.”

KCTU officials said they plan similar May Day rallies in more than 10 locations across South Korea on Wednesday.

KCTU union members decried Yoon’s December veto of a bill aimed at limiting companies’ rights to seek compensation for damages caused by strikes by labor unions. They also accuse Yoon’s government of handling the 2022 strikes by truckers too aggressively and insulting construction sector workers whom authorities believed were involved in alleged irregular activities.

Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has pushed for labor reforms to support economic growth and job creation. His government has vowed to sternly deal with illegal strikes and demand more transparent accounting records from labor unions.

“The remarkable growth of the Republic of Korea was thanks to the sweat and efforts of our workers. I thank our 28.4 million workers,” Yoon said in May Day message posted on Facebook. “My government and I will protect the precious value of labor.”

Police said they would mobilize thousands of officers to maintain order. Police said in a statement they will sternly deal with any illegal activities such as occupying streets.

In the Philippine capital, Manila, hundreds of workers and left-wing activists marched and held a rally in the scorching summer heat to demand wage increases and job security amid soaring food and oil prices.

Riot police stopped the protesting workers from getting close to the presidential palace. Waving red flags and holding up posters that read: “We work to live, not to die” and “Lower prices, increase salaries,” the protesters rallied in the street, where they chanted and delivered speeches about the difficulties faced by Filipino laborers.

Poor drivers joined the protest and called to end a government modernization program they fear would eventually lead to the removal of their dilapidated jeepneys, a main mode of public transport, from Manila’s streets.

Similar May Day rallies were expected in other Asian and European cities.

__

Associated Press journalist VJ Basilio Sepe Manila contributed to this report.