Nearly 130,000 people have showed up in central Moscow to march on International Workers’ Day, or Labor Day, the Interior Ministry has reported. This year’s demonstrations are being held under the slogan ‘Decent work, wages, and life’.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin marched alongside the participants as they headed towards Red Square. Members of trade unions and labor collectives, veterans, students, and political activists can be seen carrying Russian flags and colorful balloons and banners. More than 6,500 veteran workers and war veterans were invited to attend the main celebrations taking place in the heart of the capital by the Kremlin walls.
“Our most important demands are better salaries, and a transition to economic development based on improvement of the population’s purchasing capability,” the head of Russia’s Federation of Independent trade unions, Mikhail Shmakov, told RIA, adding that more than two and a half million people are expected to mark Labor Day in cities across Russia.
