Workers demand pay hikes in May Day marches

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — May Day moved beyond its roots as an international workers' holiday to a day of international protest Tuesday, with rallies throughout Asia demanding wage increases and marches planned across Europe over government-imposed austerity measures.
Thousands of workers protested in the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan and other parts of Asia, with demands for wage hikes amid soaring oil prices a common theme. They said their take-home pay could not keep up with rising consumer prices and also called for lower school fees.
In debt-crippled Greece, more than 2,000 people marched through central Athens in subdued May Day protests centered on the country's harsh austerity program. Young men targeted political party stands, and minor scuffles broke out. Two stands were destroyed and another one partially burnt. There were no injuries.
Other Europeans also planned to take to the streets to protest measures to cut spending that are being blamed for a big jump in the number of unemployed, particularly in Spain, where one in four people is now out of work.
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.
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.
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. One read "spring has come, the swamp has dried up," referring to Bolotnaya (Swampy) Square, the site of some of the largest opposition demonstrations in recent months.
In Asia, workers demanded wage increases in peaceful but noisy protests.
In the Philippine capital, Manila, more than 8,000 members of a huge labor alliance, many clad in red shirts and waving red streamers, marched under a brutal sun for 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) to a heavily barricaded bridge near the Malacanang presidential palace, which teemed with thousands of riot police, Manila police chief Alex Gutierrez said.