Workers across the world on Tuesday marked the International Labor and Solidarity Day, also known as May Day, with large rallies and demonstrations.
In the Russian capital, thousands of people led by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin marched across the Red Square to commemorate the May Day.
The day, dedicated to workers around the world, is a public holiday in many countries.
It commemorates the struggle of the working class to win fair employment standards, historian Tatyana Sidorova told Anadolu Agency in Moscow on Tuesday.
People who worked most, earned less and did not have time to study and to top up their qualification, she added.
"These unjust conditions resulted in appearance of labor unions and labor movements which met a great resistance from the side of the industrial elite. But when the labor movement became mass, employers were forced to meet the demands and to improve work conditions," she said.
In Austria, over 100,000 people gathered in front of the Municipality of Vienna building, where far-right groups protested.
Thousands of workers and students in the Greek capital Athens protested against the government’s “belt-tightening” policies at the Sintagma Square where the parliament is located.
Some groups protested against NATO outside the U.S. Embassy in Athens.
In the Balkans region, various protests were held in Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo, pointing out poor conditions for workers in their countries.
In several major cities of Pakistan, including Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi, labor unions voiced concern over lack of rights of workers.
In Manila, a crowd of around 20,000 individuals from different labor groups -- the biggest number of protesters recorded since Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte assumed presidency in 2016 -- gathered on Tuesday and protested against labor contract executive order.
Earlier Tuesday, Duterte had signed an executive order aimed at ending illegal contracts and providing security to Filipino workers; however, protesters claimed it was "anti-workers" and useless.
