May Day 2011

Demonstrators around the globe observed May Day this past weekend with protests and mass gatherings, including a few that turned violent. The day has become an occasion for a wide range of agendas, from promoting rights for immigrant workers, to a traditional nod for International Workers' Day, to a call for a revival of communism, to a celebration of spring. Here is a collection of images focused on how workers, unions, socialist groups and others marked the day. -- Lloyd Young 39 photos total)

A worker marks his head with the sign "Stop Out-Sourcing" as he marches to the presidential palace during a rally in Jakarta May 1, 2011. More than 15,000 laborers stage rallies in Jakarta and other big cities in Indonesia to mark May Day, calling on the government for improvement in employment policies. (Supri/Reuters)

Workers hold signs during a May Day rally held by the Federation of Korean Trade Unions near parliament in Seoul on May 1, 2011. The police said about 50,000 workers attended the FKTU rally. The signs read, "Revise the labor union act extensively." (Truth Leem/Reuters) #

Demonstrators shout slogans and hold banners as they take part in May Day rally in downtown Lisbon on May 1, 2011. In Portugal, tens of thousands marched in protest at austerity measures expected to be imposed under the terms of a European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout plan. (Patricia De Melo Moriera/AFP/Getty Images) #

A leftist protester is hit by police water cannon during May Day demonstrations in Hamburg on May 1, 2011. (Thomas Peter/Reuters) #

Indonesian laborers march to the presidential palace during a rally in Jakarta on May 1, 2011. More than 15,000 laborers stage rallies in Jakarta and other big cities in Indonesia to mark May Day, calling on the government for improvements in employment policies. (Supr/Reuters) #

A protester holds a Colombian flag during May Day demonstrations in Cali on May 1, 2011. (Jaime Saldarriaga/reuters) #

Demonstrators run from tear gas during during protests on May Day in Bogota on May 1, 2011. (John Vizcaino/Reuters) #

Demonstrators arrange their hair in front of an antiriot water cannon during a May Day demonstration in Bogota, Colombia, on May 1, 2011. (Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images) #

A woman looks away while marching during a May Day protest on May 1, 2011, in Los Angeles. Thousands of people marched for immigration reform, among other issues. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images) #

A demonstrator sits on a street during a May Day demonstration on May 1, 2011 in Hamburg. The international day of the worker has for the past two decades been accompanied in German cities by sporadic street violence and pitched battles between far-right skinheads, antifascist groups, and police. (Bodo Marks/AFP/Getty Images) #

Protesters break the glass to a bank entrance marking May Day in Bogota, Colombia, on May 1, 2011. Riot police faced a few threats from students throwing stones, Molotov cocktails, paint and breaking storefront windows. Colombian workers marched through the main streets of the country to mark International Workers' Day. (Fernando Vergara/Associated Press) #

Demonstrators march during a May Day protest on May 1, 2011, in Los Angeles. Thousands of people marched for immigration reform, among other issues. (Thayer/Getty Images) #

Cubans participate in the May Day parade on May 1, 2011, at Revolution Square in Havana. (Desmond Boylan/AFP/Getty Images) #

Riot police stand guard outside a communications company office that was destroyed by protesters during May Day demonstrations in Cali on May 1, 2011. (Jaime Saldarriaga/Reuters) #

Demonstrators throw a homemade explosive during a May Day demo in Cali, Colombia, on May 1, 2011. (Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images #

Riot police officers give assistance to a protester who was injured during clashes on a May Day demonstration in Bogota, Colombia, on May 1, 2011. (Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images) #

Youths take part in May Day celebrations in Tegucigalpa on May 1, 2011. The T-shirt reads "Freedom for life." (Edgard Garrido/Reuters) #

A demonstrator holds a trade union flag as she waits to take part in a May Day march in Malaga, Spain, on May 1, 2011. Spanish unions staged their traditional rally all over Spain, demanding job equality, fair salaries and productive investment. (Jon Nazca/Reuters) #

A street vendor pushes a trolley of bottled water past a giant May Day banner in central Istanbul on May 1, 2011. The banner reads, "We celebrate all laborers and workers on May Day." (Murad Sezer/Reuters) #

Maoist activists and supporters arrive on a bus to take part in a rally to commemorate May Day in Kathmandu on May 1, 2011. (Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters) #

Russian police officers detain an opposition supporter during a May Day rally in St. Petersburg on May 1, 2011. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in May Day demonstrations across Russia, some showing support for the Kremlin and others urging Russians to overthrow the ruling duo. Anti-Kremlin protesters were however greatly outnumbered by pro-government demonstrators mobilised by the ruling United Russia party and Kremlin-friendly trade unions, which claimed a turnout of 2 million people. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images) #

A worker tries to stop a policeman extinguishing burning tires during a rally in front of the presidential palace in Jakarta on May 1, 2011. More than 15,000 laborers stage rallies in Jakarta and other big cities in Indonesia to mark May Day, calling on the government for improvement in employment policies. (Enny Nuraheni/Reuters) #

A riot policemen points his finger toward protesters as he stands in front of a fire flare during May Day demonstrations in Kreuzberg district of Berlin on May 1, 2011. (Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters) #

Police shields are laid on a street as thousands of workers hold a Labor Day protest near the Malacanang palace in Manila on May 1, 2011. Thousands of workers and activists marched on Philippines streets marking May Day to protest the government's migrant labor policy and demand higher wages amid rising prices for basic commodities. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images) #

An elderly Ukrainian woman waves a red flag and shouts slogans during May Day march and rally organized by the Communist Party in central Kiev on May 1, 2011. (Natalia Slipchuk/AFP/Getty Images) #

A protester shouts slogans from the top of a van during a May Day demonstration in Macau on May 1, 2011. About 1,000 people joined a peaceful but noisy march to the Macau government office on May Day, with only one protester being taken away by police after refusing to remove his van from a public road that was obstructing traffic outside of the government office. (Antony Dickson/AFP/Getty Images) #

A demonstrator holds up a hammer and sickle as Iraqis gather in central Baghdad to mark the workers' May Day celebrations on May 1, 2011. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images) #

An antiriot policeman gives a thumbs up to workers as they protest during a rally in front of the presidential palace in Jakarta on May 1, 2011. More than 15,000 laborers stage rallies in Jakarta and other big cities in Indonesia to mark May Day, calling on the government for improvement in employment policies. (Enny Nuraheni/Reuters) #

A man representing imperialism participates in a rally for jobs and immigration rights in New York on May 1, 2011. May 1 is a traditional date for pro-labor demonstrations. Immigration advocates latched onto the tradition in 2006. (Seth Wenig/Associated Press) #

Lebanese leftist protesters shout slogans against the sectarian system in Lebanon during a rally to mark May Day in Beirut on May 1, 2011. The Arabic on banner reads: "The people want to drop the sectarian system in Lebanon." (Grace Kassab/Associated Press) #

A protester holds up his palm during a protest for labor rights in Cairo May 1, 2011. The palm reads, "social justice." (Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters) #

Supporters of the Bulgarian Socialist Party shout antigovernment slogans during a rally marking May Day in central Sofia on May 1, 2011. Hundreds of Bulgarians urged the government to resign over its failure to cope with the economic crisis in the European Union's poorest country. (Stoyan Nenov/Reuters) #

Participants stage a performance as they attend a May Day rally on International Workers' Day in Moscow on May 1, 2011. (Nikolay Korchekov /Reuters) #

A woman greets Russian communist supporters from a window with a red cloth during the traditional May Day rally in central Moscow on May 1, 2011. May Day traditionally celebrates the rights of the proletariat in the former Soviet Union countries. Crowds waving balloons and blue or red flags gathered in cities from the Pacific port of Vladivostok to Moscow in carefully choreographed rallies reminiscent of the Soviet era when May 1 was one of the most venerable holidays celebrating international socialism. (Dmitry Kostukov/AFP/Getty Images) #

Russian opposition supporters shout during the traditional May Day rally in central Moscow on May 1, 2011. (Dmitry Kostukov/AFP/Getty Images) #

Leftist activists shout slogans during a rally marking May Day in Kiev on May 1, 2011. (Sergei Chuzavkov/Associated Press) #

A demonstrator of Comisiones Obreras, or CCOO, sticks out his tongue as he holds a pick during a May Day demonstration in Malaga, Spain, on May 1, 2011. Spanish unions staged their traditional rally all over Spain, demanding job equality, fair salaries, and productive investment. (Jon Nazca/Reuters) #

A young girl holds a flag of the General Union of Workers during a May Day rally in the centre of Madrid on May 1, 2011. Tens of thousands took to the streets across the globe for May Day to press for workers' rights amid tough economic times and to back an array of other causes. (Dani Pozo/AFP/Getty Images) #