Threatened union strike may test Salvador regime

Employees of El Salvador's most powerful union, unpaid for the last four months, threatened to strike by Tuesday night, in the first major test for the country's new government.

Officials of El Salvador's public accounts office said the government owes $8 million to its employees. A strike by the Salvadoran Workers' Central would shut down 42 state projects, including highway construction vital to the military fighting against leftist guerrillas.