Greece Marks May Day With Rallies Across Athens and Thessaloniki

Greeks are taking to the streets Friday in cities across the country to mark International Workers’ Day, with major labor unions organizing rallies in central Athens that are drawing large crowds and have prompted widespread transit disruptions.

Unions Mobilize Across the Capital

The main demonstrations are split across several gathering points in Athens and nearby Piraeus. Greece’s largest private-sector union, GSEE (General Confederation of Greek Workers), and the Athens Labor Center are rallying at Klafthmonos Square, while ADEDY — the civil servants’ confederation — has gathered at Korai Square. PAME, the labor front affiliated with the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), assembled at Syntagma Square, the country’s central plaza in front of Parliament. In Piraeus, Athens’ port city, the Piraeus Labor Center is holding its own separate demonstration at the Municipal Theater Square.

PAME’s rally kicked off at 10:30 a.m., with the GSEE and ADEDY events following at 11 a.m. The first marching blocs have already set off from the Propylaea — the landmark steps of Athens University on Panepistimiou Street — heading toward Syntagma, with ADEDY and GSEE contingents following from Klafthmonos Square.

A rally organized by PAME at Syntagma Square marks International Workers’ Day in Athens, Friday, May 1, 2026. (GIORGOS KONTARINIS/EUROKINISSI)

A rally organized by GSEE, ADEDY and the Athens Labor Center marks International Workers’ Day in Athens, Friday, May 1, 2026. (DANAI DAVLOPOULOU/EUROKINISSI)

A rally organized by PAME at Syntagma Square marks International Workers’ Day in Athens, Friday, May 1, 2026. (GIANNIS PANAGOPOULOS/EUROKINISSI)

Political Leaders Take to the Streets

Dimitris Koutsoumbas, secretary-general of the KKE addressed supporters on the sidelines of the PAME rally. Invoking the origins of May Day, he called for continued struggle. “One hundred and forty years after the Chicago workers’ uprising for the eight-hour workday, we press on for new rights and gains — for a life free of capitalist exploitation, of imperialist wars, of economic crises whose cost always falls on working people,” he said.

PASOK-KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis marked the occasion separately, attending a commemoration at the Kaisariani Shooting Range, a historically significant site on the outskirts of Athens where Nazi occupiers executed 200 communist resistance fighters on May Day 1944.

Sokratis Famellos, leader of SYRIZA, also attended the May Day rallies in Athens, where he paid tribute to the history behind the occasion. “We honor International Workers’ Day and the struggles of working people who gave their lives so that labor could mean rights and dignity,” he said.

Getting Around Athens and Thessaloniki Today

A 24-hour strike by public transit workers is causing significant disruption across Athens. Metro, suburban rail (ISAP) and tram services are suspended for the entire day. The national rail network, including regional commuter lines, is also fully shut down.

Bus and trolleybus services are operating on a reduced schedule, running between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., with work stoppages in effect during early morning and late-night hours. Suburban bus lines operated by the Attica Transport Consortium are running normally throughout the day. Police have closed roads around Syntagma Square and along Panepistimiou and Stadiou streets — two of central Athens’ main arteries — to vehicle traffic for the duration of the marches.

In Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, the city bus operator OASTH is running a skeleton service. Routes for passengers with disabilities and the overnight N1 airport line continue to operate as scheduled. Four stations on the Thessaloniki Metro — Venizelos, Agia Sofia, Sintrivani and Panepistimiou — are suspended until 4 p.m. on orders from police authorities, according to metro operator Thema. Further delays on metro services are possible due to broader strike action throughout the day.