(CNN) —
Demonstrators across the globe took to the streets on Tuesday to demand better working conditions, as part of rallies marking International Workers’ Day.
Held on May 1 each year – known as May Day – the rallies date back to the 1880s.
At the time, labor movements around the world were campaigning for safeguards such as eight-hour workdays and trade unions. The date of May 1 was chosen as it coincided with the anniversary of the Haymarket affair in Chicago, where police killed four people at a peaceful protest after someone threw a bomb into the crowd.
Today, trade unions and human rights campaigners continue to mark the day with rallies – here’s a look at this year’s protests.
What is May Day, anyway?
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Francois Mori/AP
Activists smash windows of a McDonald's restaurant after it was hit with petrol bombs during a May Day rally in the center of Paris.
About 1,200 hooded protesters took part in May Day protests, during which a McDonalds restaurant was attacked with a Molotov cocktail, police said.
Photographs show extensive damage to the building, with protesters kicking in smashed windows. Footage also showed damage to a Renault car dealership, as well as other businesses.
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Julien Mattia/Le Pictorium/Newscom
The McDonald's was extenstively damaged in the protests.
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ALEJANDRO ERNESTO/AFP/Getty Images
People march to Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba, during the annual May Day parade.
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Ezra Acayan/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Workers burn an effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte as part of demonstrations outside the presidential palace in the capital Manila.
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ARIF ALI/AFP/Getty Images
Union members hold placards during a march in Lahore, north-east Pakistan.
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Lefteris Pitarakis/AP
Police scuffle with protesters marching near Taksim Square in Istanbul.
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Pavel Golovkin/AP
Balloons fly above a rally in Red Square, Moscow.
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SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images
Trade unionists wave flags during a march in Kiev.
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Giorgos Georgiou/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A demonstrator marches in Athens. A number of trade unions marked May Day with a 24-hour nationwide strike.
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Rehman Asad/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Garment workers attend a rally in the capital Dhaka. In 2013, more than 1,000 people died when a garment factory collapsed in the same city.
Opinion: Protect the Bangladesh workers who make our clothes
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Vincent Yu/AP
A protester raises a model of a bus, during a rally in Hong Kong calling for better labor conditions.
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Matias Delacroix/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Chilean workers take part in a May Day march in the capital of Santiago.
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RAMINDER PAL SINGH/EPA-EFE
Workers attend a rally in Amritsar, north-west India.
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LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images
A woman is surrounded by a mixture of Catalonian and Spanish flags, at a rally in Barcelona.
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Alessandro Di Ciommo/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Workers hold placards at a rally organized by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, in Tokyo.
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Lee Jin-man/AP
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions carry flags during a rally in Seoul.
Written by Sheena McKenzie. Photo edit by Sarah Tilotta.
