10 May Day photos from around the world

Workers of the world unite — at least for a day

Happy May Day?
(Image credit: Veri Sanovri/Xinhua Press/Corbis)

Across the globe Wednesday, millions of demonstrators took to the streets to promote workers' rights, with demands reflecting the pressing labor and economic issues facing each nation. Occupy Wall Street activists returned to Manhattan; police in Istanbul, Turkey, fired tear gas and water cannons at demonstrators; and anti-austerity demonstrators held a general strike in Greece, crippling the nation's transit system.

Though the U.S does not observe May Day — President Eisenhower, concerned about the holiday's perceived communist overtones, renamed May 1 "Law Day" in 1958 — organizers held demonstrations in many U.S. cities. Take a look at these May Day photos from around the world:

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Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.