Russia is marking May 1, the Day of Spring and Labour. About 120,000 people will take part in meetings. The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia is expected to be the most massive, under the leadership of President Dmitry Medvedev. The CPRF, LDPR and A Fair Russia plan meetings. The opposition plans to gather a million protesters on May 6.
Trade unions plan to gather 2 million people all over the country and 100,000 in Moscow on May 1, RIA Novosti reports.
Mikhail Shmakov, Chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, said that the two of their demands are protection of the Labour Code and simplification of labour rules.
Marches start at 10 am along Tverskaya Street through Mokhovaya to Borovitskaya Square.
Mass meetings are planned in Yakutsk, Perm, Khabarovsk, Yekaterinburg and Ivanovo, Shmakov said.
Communists will march at Bolshaya Yakimanka, Bolshaya Polyanka through Mokhovaya Street to Okhotny Ryad and conclude their meeting at Teatralnaya Square at the Karl Marx Monument. At least 50,000 people are expected to arrive, Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the CPRF and head of the protest office Vladimir Kashin said.
At least 5,000 people will march at the heads of columns. 2,000 are veterans. Over 20 labour enterprises and groups of Moscow and Moscow's outskirts will take part. 38 political organizations are included.
Protesters will demand improvement of labour conditions, another group will protest against establishment of a NATO base in Ulyanovsk.
Communists disagreeing with CPRF leader Gennady Zyuganov will have a Left March, as stated by Denis Zommer, head of the Moscow City Committee of the Union of Communist Youth.
The protesters will gather at Trubnaya Square to march to Chistoprudny Avenue. The march starts at 2 pm. Over 20 organizations plan to attend. 500 will gather. The Working Russia meeting starts at 10.30 am. Marches start from Kaluzhskaya Square to Teatralnaya Square.
A Fair Russia will meet at Sokolniki with leader Sergey Mironov and Chairman Nikolai Levichev attending. They meet at 11 am. About 5,000 people plan to arrive.
The LDPR plans to meet at Pushkinskaya Square at 2 pm with 2,000 people attending. 62-year old leader of the party Vladimir Zhirinovski will mark his birthday.
Nationalists plan to start a march at Oktyabrskoye Polye at 12 pm and march to Shukinskaya.
The opposition plans to meet at Bolotnaya Square on May 6. A total of 14 meetings are planned on May 1.
About 120,000 people will attend. They will be held from 10 am to 5.30 pm. Over 9,000 police officers and 4,000 servicemen will be mobilized.
The International Day of Workers' Solidarity was established at the Second International Congress in Paris on July 14-21, 1889, to mark protests of Chicago workers on May 1, 1886, who demanded an 8-hour workday.
