Riot and Kudos: May 1st Demo in the city causes a stir!

Am 1. Mai 2025 demonstrierten rund 1000 Teilnehmer friedlich in Düsseldorf, während Oberbürgermeister Keller auf Widerstand stieß.
On May 1, 2025, around 1000 participants demonstrated peacefully in Düsseldorf, while Mayor Keller met with resistance. (Symbolbild/ANAG)

Riot and Kudos: May 1st Demo in the city causes a stir!

On May 1, 2025, thousands of people took part in demonstrations for the day of work in several German cities. In Düsseldorf, around 1,000 participants gathered on Johannes-Rau-Platz, where the event was peaceful despite some disorders. Mayor Stephan Keller (CDU) was invited as a guest speaker, but was faced with a protesting group of international youth during his speech. These had transparent and insulted him with cries such as "warmongers" and "war party". Interjections demanded more solidarity with the socialist youth group, which led to several interruptions of Keller's speech.

his speech was also supported by the two mayor candidates Clara Gerlach (Greens) and Fabian Zachel (SPD), who stood behind him. They also spoke a greeting, while the demagogical disorders of the young people shaped the framework of the event. According to

DGB state chairman Katja Karger used the final rally at the Red town hall to point out the need to increase the collective agreements in companies. Currently there are only collective agreements in Berlin in every tenth company. In Brandenburg, too, this value is only one of five companies. In view of the high inflation of the past two years, Karger said that people were no longer willing to accept them. Before the upcoming European elections in June, she praised the progress made by EU regulations for employees.

effects and demands

The DGB demonstration was not only an expression of solidarity among the working, but also a demand for concrete improvements in working conditions. With the current minimum wage height of EUR 12.41 and the planned increase to EUR 12.81 for the coming year, the DGB demand is of great importance after more wages and better remuneration.

In Brandenburg, almost 1,000 people demonstrated in Potsdam, while other rallies in cities such as Eberswalde, Hennigsdorf, Strausberg and Brandenburg are planned. These nationwide actions illustrate how strong social injustice has grown in recess in recent years and how necessary it is to strengthen labor rights and to expand collective agreements.

May 1, 2025 again showed that the day of work is not only a holiday, but also a moment of the protest in which the voice of the workers must be heard. For many, this day is a call to solidarity and a sign of change to improve working conditions for everyone. The distance between the words of the speakers and the calls of the protesting illustrated the tense mood in society.

For more information on the failed speeches and the reaction of the police in Düsseldorf you can visit rp-online.de Further references to the demonstrations in Berlin and the DGB claims offers rbb24.de href = "https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/1-ma-warbeit-dgb-kundungen-Demonstrations-berlin-hamburg-1.6799052"> sueddeutsche.de gives an overview of the nationwide events.

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