Sender: owner-imap@webmap.missouri.edu
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 97 20:56:23 CST
From: "Workers World" <ww@wwpublish.com>
Organization: WW Publishers
Subject: Workers around the world: 11/06/97
Article: 21204
To: BROWNH@CCSUA.CTSTATEU.EDU

Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the November 6, 1997 issue of Workers World newspaper

Strikers face police

Workers Around the World, Workers' World, 6 November 1997

Thousands of striking factory workers in the southern Kazakh town of Turkestan faced off with police blocking their march on Oct. 24. The workers are demanding months of unpaid wages.

"Five buses filled with police officers wearing helmets and carrying shields surrounded the strikers and prevented them from crossing a bridge on the Turkestan river," said one union spokesperson.

Among the demonstrators were 1,000 factory workers from the southeastern town of Kentau who have been marching toward the country's capital of Almaty since Oct. 1. Police blocked that march on Oct. 2 in Turkestan. The workers and their families have been living in a tent city there, supported by the local population.

Employers owe workers some $810 million in unpaid wages, dating back to 1996.