The World - News from July 3, 1985

Workers and students spilled into the streets of Panama City to protest planned changes in labor laws, including reduced overtime pay and less stringent conditions on firing workers. Earlier, 17 riot police were injured in a clash with protesting university students. A strike called by several unions affected some industries, but most businesses remained open. The labor-law changes are related to an austerity program supported by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and designed to encourage foreign investment.