Trump’s policies loom over May Day marches

PARIS (AP):

French union leaders condemned the “Trumpization” of world politics, while in Italy, May Day protesters paraded a puppet of the American president through the streets of Turin.

Across continents, hundreds of thousands turned out for Thursday’s rallies marking International Workers’ Day, many united in anger over US President Donald Trump’s agenda – from aggressive tariffs stoking fears of global economic turmoil to immigration crackdowns.

In the United States, organisers framed this year’s protests as a pushback against what they called a sweeping assault on labour protections, diversity initiatives and federal employees.

In Germany, union leaders warned that extended workdays and rising anti-immigrant sentiment were dismantling labour protections. In Bern, Switzerland, thousands marched behind banners denouncing fascism and war – part of a wider backlash against the global surge of hard-right politics.

In France, union leaders predicted hundreds of thousands would join demonstrations across the country, fuelled by anger over US military and trade influence in Europe. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused the US of pushing Europe toward conflict and economic subservience.

“If the North Americans don’t want our goods anymore, we can just sell them to others,” he said.

In Spain, thousands marched in Madrid, Barcelona and other cities, with demands ranging from a shorter workweek to answers for a historic power outage that blacked out the Iberian Peninsula earlier this week. Trump’s name also surfaced.

MAJOR GLOBAL SHIFT

“The world has changed a bit with Trump’s arrival,” said Ángel López, 56, a worker from Madrid. “The arrival of the far right to a country like the United States is a major global shift.”

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te cited new US tariffs under Trump as he promoted a sweeping economic package aimed at shoring up jobs and industry. In the Philippines, protest leader Mong Palatino warned that “tariff wars and policies of Trump” threatened local industries and people’s livelihoods.

In Japan, Trump’s image loomed over the day – quite literally – as a truck in the Tokyo march carried a doll made to resemble him. Demonstrators there called for higher wages, gender equality, health care, disaster relief, a ceasefire in Gaza, and an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Tadashi Ito, a union construction worker, said he feared the rising cost of imported raw materials.

“Everybody is fighting over work, and so the contracts tend to go where the wages are cheapest,” he said. “We think peace comes first. And we hope Trump will eradicate conflict and inequalities.”

Under overcast skies, about 2,500 union members marched from the Taiwanese presidential office in Taipei, warning that Trump’s tariffs could lead to job losses.

“This is why we hope the government can propose plans to protect the rights of labourers,” said union leader Carlos Wang. An autoworkers’ union carried a cutout car topped with a photo of Trump.

In Manila, thousands of Filipino workers rallied near the presidential palace, where police blocked access with barricades. Protesters demanded wage hikes and stronger protections for local jobs and small businesses.

In Chicago, thousands of people rallied in a West Side park before marching through downtown streets to the lakefront. Some played drums and danced while others chanted “No justice, no peace!” The crowd included union workers, immigrant rights advocates, pro-Palestinian activists and students calling for better-funded public schools.

Latrina Barnes, a 48-year-old certified nurses assistant, said worries that Medicaid and Medicare might be affected under the Trump administration inspired her to protest in a May Day rally for the first time. “We need to stand up and fight back,” she said.

Some used humour to protest, including a Trump puppet, an inflatable Trump baby chicken and a Trump pinata shaped like a bull.