Thousands of people took part in marches across France on Tuesday on the first world day for "decent work", worried that jobs, savings or livelihoods will be swept away in the global financial crisis. Six French unions organised the demonstrations that follow the biggest surge in the number of jobless in 15 years and the release of new figures confirming that France is entering a recession.
About 3,000 people took part in Paris, some shouting "Bankers, speculators are thieves!" and "Let workers have the money they earned." In France, big marches also took place in Marseille, Nantes and Lyon. France's largest union, the CGT, said 87 protests in all were held nation-wide. Events were to be held in about 100 countries. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which organised events world-wide to mark the day, said thousands took part in similar marches in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and several Russian cities.