First Singapore strike in years highlights strains

SINGAPORE (AP) — Singapore responded to its first strike in nearly three decades with riot police and strident official criticism of the disgruntled Chinese immigrant workers, highlighting strains from an influx of foreign labor.

Many of the 171 striking bus drivers returned to work Wednesday after a government minister warned them they had “crossed the line” and riot police were stationed near their hostel. They went on strike Monday in protest at being paid nearly a quarter less than Malaysian bus drivers who work for the same Singapore transport company.

Strikes are almost unheard of in Singapore where the ruling party has been in power since 1959 and maintains strict control over political dissent. The last strike was in 1986 by shipyard workers.

As the city-state grew wealthier over the years, its citizens increasingly spurned menial, low status work and the government, concerned about remaining competitive with lower cost countries in Asia, needed a solution. The island of 5.2 million people now relies on hundreds of thousands of immigrants from countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and China who work as maids, construction workers and other occupations deemed unappealing by many locals.