March 23, 2006
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Asian workers angered by low salaries and mistreatment smashed cars and offices in a riot that interrupted construction Wednesday of what is meant to be the world's tallest skyscraper -- including a luxury hotel run by Giorgio Armani.
The violence, which caused an estimated $1 million damage, illustrated the growing unrest among foreign workers who are the linchpin of Dubai's breathtaking building boom.
Some 2,500 workers on the Burj Dubai tower and surrounding housing developments chased and beat security officers Tuesday night, then broke into offices.
When the laborers, who work for the Dubai-based firm Al Naboodah Laing O'Rourke, returned to the vast construction site Wednesday, they demanded better pay and employment conditions and refused to return to work. In a sympathy strike, thousands of laborers at Dubai International Airport also lay down their tools.
''Everyone is angry here. No one will work,'' said Khalid Farouk, 39, a laborer with Al Naboodah. Others said their leaders were asking for pay raises: skilled carpenters on the site earn $7.60 per day, with laborers getting $4 per day.
AP
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