violencia.Proletariat
23rd March 2006, 16:14
Riot by migrant workers halts construction of Dubai skyscraper
Construction of what is expected to be the world's tallest building was halted yesterday after 2,500 workers in Dubai rioted over pay and conditions, causing damage estimated at £500,000.
The trouble broke out on Tuesday night when buses due to take labourers to a residential camp at the end of their shift were delayed, witnesses said. Workers from the Burj Dubai tower site and surrounding housing developments then chased and assaulted security officers, broke into offices, smashed computers and files, and destroyed about two dozen cars and construction machines, they added.
"Everyone is angry. No one will work," a labourer, Khalid Farouk, told the Associated Press. Other workers said they wanted pay rises: skilled carpenters earn £4.34 a day and labourers £2.84.
Construction workers building a new terminal for Dubai international airport also downed tools in sympathy yesterday, airport officials said.
Burj Dubai is intended to be the world's tallest building when it is completed in 2008. The developers are keeping its eventual height secret in case competitors try to overtake it. So far 36 storeys have been built.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/st...1737180,00.html (http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1737180,00.html)
Construction of what is expected to be the world's tallest building was halted yesterday after 2,500 workers in Dubai rioted over pay and conditions, causing damage estimated at £500,000.
The trouble broke out on Tuesday night when buses due to take labourers to a residential camp at the end of their shift were delayed, witnesses said. Workers from the Burj Dubai tower site and surrounding housing developments then chased and assaulted security officers, broke into offices, smashed computers and files, and destroyed about two dozen cars and construction machines, they added.
"Everyone is angry. No one will work," a labourer, Khalid Farouk, told the Associated Press. Other workers said they wanted pay rises: skilled carpenters earn £4.34 a day and labourers £2.84.
Construction workers building a new terminal for Dubai international airport also downed tools in sympathy yesterday, airport officials said.
Burj Dubai is intended to be the world's tallest building when it is completed in 2008. The developers are keeping its eventual height secret in case competitors try to overtake it. So far 36 storeys have been built.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/st...1737180,00.html (http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1737180,00.html)