Cop injured at 2010 stadium strike riot
CAPE TOWN, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A South African police officer was injured on Wednesday during a wildcat strike at a soccer stadium work site, raising fears that labour disputes could disrupt the nation's preparations to host the 2010 World Cup.
Some 1,000 workers, many affiliated to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), downed tools at Cape Town's Green Point stadium to demand better travel benefits. Some threw stones and bricks when police tried to break up the protest. One officer was treated for minor injuries. 'The strike will continue until our demands are met. We will strike to Kingdom come,' said Mzulula Madolo, a worker who took part in the protest. It was the second time in the past month that workers at Green Point, one of 10 South African stadiums being built or refurbished for 2010, had participated in an illegal strike. Local World Cup organisers are under intense pressure to ensure all the stadiums and other preparations for the tournament are completed on time and they have played down the prospect that powerful labour unions could delay or block the work. 'It will obviously have a serious impact if it continues and that will put pressure on the building process. It will have a definite domino effect,' said Albert Brink of the National Productivity Institute, a state-subsidised agency. South Africa has experienced a series of nationwide strikes this year, highlighted by a month-long public servants' labour dispute that led to violent confrontations in the streets.
