May Day brought marches and scattered violence around the world but unions in troubled Zimbabwe marked the traditional workers' holiday by staying off the streets and calling for calm.
In Russia, where for decades May Day was marked by colossal workers' marches choreographed by the communist state, tens of thousands joined rallies. But protests were smaller than previous post-Soviet gatherings.
"We were all free and happy then," pensioner Dina Gulicheva said of the Soviet era. "These democrats have taken everything away from me."
Polish riot police moved in to restore order in Gdansk after skinheads threw eggs full of red paint at May Day marchers. In Warsaw, leftist marchers hurled eggs at anti-communist hecklers.
Some 7,000 mostly elderly Bulgarians, many of them supporters of the largely ex-communist Socialist Party, rallied in Sofia to protest against poverty and what they called the corruption of the centre-right government.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which is critical of President Robert Mugabe's policies, urged workers to stay at home, "think deeply, and pray for peace".
Fourteen people have been killed in the occupations of white-owned farms by pro-government groups and political violence in recent weeks.
The partly state-owned Herald newspaper accused unions of playing politics instead of attending to workers' interests.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by former trade union leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, said cancellation of the rallies was justified by the breakdown of rule of law.
Tens of thousands of Turks took to the streets for protests largely directed against the International Monetary Fund.
Turkey late last year sealed a three-year $4 billion loan from the IMF to support an economic reform and anti-inflation programme. One of its cornerstones is rapid privatisation.
"IMF: This nation is not for sale" ran one huge red-and-yellow banner carried in Istanbul.
Thousands demonstrated peacefully in Indonesia, some against economic policies imposed by the IMF. In the Sumatran city of Medan, 10,000 gathered peacefully. Across the city, police opened fire on students, killing two and injuring more than 20, during an operation to free five colleagues taken hostage in violence unrelated to May Day.
China saw mass pilgrimages to holiday spots after the government declared the whole week a holiday in a move intended to stimulate consumer spending.
Riot police clashed with protesters in South Korea and the Philipinnes on Monday as millions of Asian workers took to the streets to demand improved - or in some cases basic - labour rights.
Radical South Korean students hurled Molotov cocktails at police in a violent protest against the planned sale of the ailing Daewoo motor company to a foreign buyer.
The clash erupted outside Korea University when thousands of riot police stopped some 2,500 students from marching to a labour rally in Seoul.
Pope John Paul, in a May Day Mass, said: "Globalisation of finance, of the economy, of commerce and of work should never be allowed to violate the dignity and centrality of the human person or the democracy of peoples."
In Slovakia, hundreds of supporters of the former Prime Minister, Mr Vladimir Meciar, protested against criminal investigations launched against him as well as high unemployment.
About 500 Lebanese workers marched through the streets of Beirut, demanding better pay, job security and priority for Lebanese over foreign workers, amid economic recession.
Millions of workers took to the streets across Asia, using the May Day holiday as an opportunity to demand improved labour rights and working conditions.
The biggest demonstrations were in Japan, where more than 1.7 million workers attended more than 1,000 Labour Day rallies to demand job security and better employment conditions according to the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), the country's largest union.
But there were signs of "global solidarity" in the Philippines where police broke up a 3,000-strong protest march in Manila after left-wing militants converged on the palace of President Joseph Estrada denouncing economic "globalisation."
France's biggest far-right party, the National Front (FN), held its traditional May Day march to a statue of Joan of Arc in central Paris, where the party's veteran firebrand leader, Mr Jean-Marie Le Pen, called for a crusade against globalisation, which he linked to communist ideals.
In Switzerland, police in Zurich used tear gas to disperse protesters.
In Havana, the Cuban President, Dr Fidel Castro, led the May Day rally as hundreds of thousands of Cubans took to the streets to demand the return of Elian Gonzalez.
In demonstrations in Taiwan, workers called on the government to stop the import of labour from other Asian countries to protect domestic jobs.
More than 4,000 people took part in a May Day protest against President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia called by Serbian independent trade unions.
Protesters gathered at the central Belgrade square and marched through the city waving union flags and chanting anti-Milosevic slogans, witnesses said.
Thousands of Egyptians headed for picnics yesterday to mark the ancient Egyptian holiday of Sham al-Nessim, "Smelling the Breeze" in Arabic, but with hampers packed with salted fish the air was far from sweet.
The paths of Cairo zoo were lined with holidaymakers enjoying the food which Egyptians recall has been eaten since the time of the pharoahs.