Irate Zambian Miners Kill Chinese Manager

Coal miners riot over low wages
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 6, 2012 9:11 AM CDT
Irate Zambian Miners Kill Chinese Manager
Chinese companies have invested more than $2 billion in Zambia, mostly in the mining sector.   (AP Photo/Joseph Schatz, File)

A fresh round of unrest has hit Chinese-operated mines in Zambia. Rioting coal miners killed a Chinese manager on Saturday by pushing a mine trolley at him as he tried to flee, reports the BBC. Another Chinese manager and several Zambians were injured during the incident at the mine, which has a history of unrest between workers and management. Chinese managers at the mine shot and injured at least 13 Zambian miners during a wage protest in 2010.

The miners, who earn around $150 a month, were protesting delays in implementing a new minimum wage law that would see them make a minimum of an additional $80 per month. Zambian President Michael Sata was elected last year after campaigning on a promise to crack down on Chinese-owned mines paying "slave wages" and to deport investors who thumb their noses at the country's labor laws, but he has quieted his anti-China rhetoric since taking office, the Wall Street Journal notes. (More Zambia stories.)

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