seeing red on may day

in a sea of red balloons, red flags and red dresses, marchers wearing war medals and clutching soviet symbols filled the streets of downtown kyiv on may 1 to mark their soviet past, worker solidarity and socialism.

more than 1 million people took part in may day demonstrations in 895 cities and towns across ukraine, according to the interior ministry, which reported no civil unrest.

the largest rally reportedly took place in kharkiv, where trade union officials joined leaders of the pro presidential for a united ukraine bloc, who promised the crowd of 10,000 timely social payments and wage increases.

may day celebrations were considerably more modest in kyiv, where marching bands played old soviet songs as several thousand elderly kyiv residents walked slowly from slavy square to european square for a brief rally at noon.

platoons of police in full uniform monitored the festivities, which were filmed by groups of black jacketed agents from the security service assigned to protect demonstrators from hecklers and would be provocateurs.

the moods of marchers varied from stoicism to desolation to paint peeling rage.

as the throng of demonstrators wended down hrushevskoho, the sun broke through the clouds and was reflected on the trumpets and trombones, sparkling in a thousand rain droplets hanging from the leaves of blooming chestnut trees.

valery volodymyrovych, a retired trolley bus driver who declined to give his last name, said the holiday was important because work is an essential part of life.

"everything that is important in life is based on labor, including one's health. how a person works, what he or she puts into a job whatever it may be determines character," he said.

valery's aunt, 82 year old anna herashchenko, criticized former communist leaders for betraying the working class by not preserving the former soviet union.

"they turned my granddaughter into a 'slave,' who is always working or looking for more work," herashchenko said.

"in the past, the fruits of labor benefited the entire population. nowadays, young people are exploited by egomaniacs with fancy cars and expensive houses," she said.

for 22 year old vakula smarychko, a representative ukraine's worker resistance movement, may day offered a perfect opportunity to meet people who want to fight back against their bosses.

"i think one's labor should express an individual's creativity," smarychko said. "it should not be exploited for monetary gain."

she said that the leaders of the nation's workers' movements have little in common with the policies and methods adopted by soviet leaders of the past and not much of a future, at least not in the foreseeable future.

"i don't think any of the leftist parties represent the interests of the workers. the people you see here are mostly pensioners, people who were devout communists and who are nostalgic for the good old days. there's no working class for anyone to oversee anymore. look around. factories and enterprises are idle," smarychko said.

several demonstrators were pining for the days of communism, saying they supported reuniting the former soviet countries. they included supporters of natalia vitrenko, the controversial leader of the progressive socialist party of ukraine, who marched behind pink banners calling on state officials to break ties with the united states and western lending institutions, such as the international monetary fund and world bank.

"just look at what they have done to my country!" exclaimed ivan, a 45 year old construction worker from gomel, belarus.

"what does the holiday mean to me? the slavs are one nation, and i am for unification. i have worked my entire life. i have always supported the communist party. i support the belarusian communist party and presidents aleksander lukashenko, leonid kuchma and vladimir putin," he said.

olga kisileva, a 34 year old executive at the moscow based izobud construction company, said she appreciated the way may day was celebrated in kyiv.

"may 1 is a day when people from older generations can get together with friends and colleagues to remember the good old days," she said, adding: "if nothing else, the holiday is therapeutic: pensioners get some exercise and some fresh air. it's a much more people oriented holiday than victory day [may 9], when post soviet governments traditionally show off their military gear in noisy parade."