April 02, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1429

HANOI, April 1: Some 17,000 workers at a Vietnam factory that makes shoes for Nike have gone on strike, looking for a salary increase to cope with surging prices in the country, a provincial official said Tuesday.

The workers went on strike Monday at the Ching Luh factory in Long An province, demanding a pay rise of 200,000 dong ($12.4), or around 15 per cent, said Huynh Van Xe from the provincial labour department.

“But management only offered 100,000 more,” he said, calling the work stoppage at the Taiwanese-owned factory the province’s biggest strike in memory.—AFP