SINGAPORE (AP) — A Singapore court has sentenced four Chinese immigrant bus drivers to up to seven weeks in prison for instigating the city-state's first labor strike in 26 years.
Three of the men were sentenced Monday to six weeks' imprisonment. A fourth driver faced an additional charge of publicizing the strike in an online post and received a seven-week jail term for his larger role.
Another driver was jailed for six weeks in December and has been deported.
In the Nov. 26-27 strike, 171 Chinese bus drivers for a public transport company protested over being paid nearly a quarter less than their Malaysian colleagues.
Walking off the job in protest is almost unheard of in Singapore. The last strike was in 1986 by shipyard workers.
