International Workers' Day prompted many to show their dissatisfaction with current conditions.
In the United States, more than 3,500 protests were planned under the theme "No school, no work, no shopping" to highlight the importance of the holiday and to criticize large corporations' attitudes toward working conditions, American media report.
War money
European trade unions issued a joint condemnation of Washington: "Working people refuse to pay the price for Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East," the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said in a statement.
The organization includes 93 trade unions from 41 countries.
Police in Istanbul, Turkey, fired tear gas as large groups of demonstrators gathered. Over 550 people were arrested in the anti-regime protests, according to AFP.
Bread fight
Protests in France were "rather quiet, but angry," the French newspaper Le Monde reported. Police estimated that nearly 160,000 demonstrators gathered during the day, while union organizers put the number at more than 300,000. Demonstrators criticized, among other things, the government's labor market policies and the permission for bakers to bake and sell bread on the holiday.
According to French law, May Day is a public holiday when only certain essential workplaces, such as hospitals, are allowed to remain open.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu showed he supported the decision to allow baguette sales, announcing in front of cameras at a bakery, "I want to buy several, at least four baguettes."
