Panama Canal workers go on strike

Hundreds of striking workers involved in the Panama Canal expansion project gather in the town of Cocoli.
Some 6,000 went on strike on Tuesday, demanding increased pay and improved working conditions.
(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GENERAL SECRETARY OF PANAMA CANAL WORKERS UNION, SAUL MENDEZ, SAYING:
"The problem is that some of the workers have been paid while others haven't been paid. Some have even been paid for overtime that they didn't do, while those who worked Sundays did not get paid for it. And there is abuse of the labour force by some foreigners who think they have authority and jurisdiction over the workers."
A spokeswoman for the Panama Labour Ministry told the striking workers that the construction consortium was in breach of contract by not paying workers.
The construction work is expected to be completed by 2014, a century after the canal was opened at a cost of 25,000 lives.
(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) STRIKING WORKER, ROLANDO GONZALEZ, SAYING:
"It is not a fight of just right now, it is a fight that has been going on for years. We are here and we will not be exploited like our ancestors, or like the Haitians, Jamaicans or the Chinese."
The biggest ever overhaul of the canal is expected to cost 5.25 billion U.S. dollars.
The canal forms a shortcut between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, saving ships the long haul around South America.
Nick Rowlands, Reuters.