Workers hit by lower living standards and record high unemployment staged May Day protests across Europe on Wednesday, hoping to persuade euro zone governments of the case for easing austerity measures and boosting growth.
There had "never been a May 1 with more reason to take to the streets", said Candido Mendez, head of UGT in Spain, one of two main unions that called on workers and the unemployed to join more than 80 demonstrations across the country.
Trains and ferries were canceled in Greece, and bank and hospital staff walked off the job after the main public and private sector unions there called a 24-hour strike, the latest in a string of protests in a country in its sixth year of recession.
About 1,000 police officers were deployed in Athens, but the demonstration passed off peacefully, with about 5,000 striking workers, pensioners and students marching to parliament holding banners reading: "We won't become slaves, take to the streets!"
Italy's new Prime Minister Enrico Letta told Germany on Tuesday that his government would meet its budget commitments but expected Europe to drop its austerity mantra and do more to lift growth.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen by many in southern Europe as the champion of the euro zone's belt-tightening approach, struck a conciliatory tone, saying "budget consolidation and growth need not be contradictory".
Tens of thousands marched in Italy's major cities to demand government action to tackle unemployment - at 11.5 percent overall and 40 percent among the young - and an end to austerity and tax evasion. Most marches were peaceful, but demonstrators in Turin threw hollowed eggs filled with black paint at police.
Italy's new Prime Minister Enrico Letta told Germany on Tuesday that his government would meet its budget commitments but expected Europe to drop its austerity mantra and do more to lift growth.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen by many in southern Europe as the champion of the euro zone's belt-tightening approach, struck a conciliatory tone, saying "budget consolidation and growth need not be contradictory".
In Istanbul, Turkish riot police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds gathering for a rally on what has become a traditional labor holiday. A Reuters photographer said at least six people were injured in the clashes.
Thousands of police were stationed across the city center to block access to the main Taksim square. Authorities often use force to prevent the rally in the city center, having this year denied trade unions permission to march on Taksim, saying construction work there would make it too dangerous.
Read more: Thousands rally against European austerity on May Day | Reuters
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