The world face of May Day 2012

Banging drums and waving flags, tens of thousands of workers marked May Day in European cities with a mix of anger and gloom over austerity measures imposed by leaders trying to contain the eurozone’s debt crisis.

Taking the baton from Asia, where unions demanded wage increases as they turned the day into an international protest, workers turned out in their thousands in Greece, France and Spain.

The three nations are the latest focus of a debt nightmare that has already forced three eurozone countries – Greece, Ireland and Portugal – to seek financial bailouts.

In France, tens of thousands of workers, leftists and union leaders were marking May Day with marches and rallies.

They were in an optimistic mood ahead of presidential elections on Sunday that a Socialist is expected to win for the first time since 1988.

Anger has emerged during the campaign at austerity measures pushed by European Union leaders and conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Many voters fear Mr Sarkozy will erode France’s welfare and worker protections, and see him as too friendly with the rich. Challenger and poll favourite François Hollande has promised high taxes on the rich.

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.

And minor scuffles broke out in Athens when young men targeted political party stands. 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 turned out in Moscow – including President Dmitry Medvedev and President-elect Vladimir Putin. But Television images showed the two leaders happily chatting with participants on the clear-and-cool spring day. Many banners and placards criticised 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.

Earlier, thousands of workers protested in the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan and other Asian nations, 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, while also calling for lower school fees.

In Indonesia, thousands of protesters demanding higherwages paraded through traffic-clogged streets in the capital, Jakarta, where 16,000 police and soldiers were There were also protests in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Tunisia.