The World - News from March 2, 1988

Dozens of people were injured as police battled 2,500 striking coal miners in Criciuma, about 800 miles southwest of Rio de Janeiro, officials said. A union lawyer, Alfredo Gava, said the violence broke out when police tried to remove strikers who were demonstrating in front of a branch of the government-run bank, Banco do Brasil. Gava said the miners had been on strike for 21 days, seeking to force Carbonifera Prospera Mining Co. to adhere to a Jan. 1 agreement for a 145% pay raise. The company refused to give workers the raise after it was sold to the government-run National Steel Co., Gava said.