Skyscraper builders riot over low salaries
Construction on a building expected to be the world’s tallest was interrupted today after Asian workers angered by low salaries and mistreatment rioted, smashing cars and offices and causing what a government official said around £500,000 (€730,00) in damage.
The stoppage triggered a sympathy strike at Dubai International Airport, when thousands of labourers building a massive new terminal also laid down their tools, airport and union officials said.
Some 2,500 workers on the emerging Burj Dubai tower and surrounding housing developments chased and beat security officers last night, broke into temporary offices and smashed computers and files, and destroyed about two dozen cars and construction machines, witnesses said.
The initial riot was caused by workers angered because buses to their residential camp were delayed after their shifts, witnesses at the site said.
An Interior Ministry official who investigates labour issues, Lt Col Rashid Bakhit Al Jumairi, said the rioters caused around £500,000 (€730,000) in damage.
