Muslim migrant workers in a town near Venice are threatening to go on strike after the city's mayor blocked their plans to build a large mosque.
Bangladeshi migrants make up about a quarter of the employees at the Fincantieri shipyards, which are among the largest in Europe. Bars, cafés and restaurants often employ Bangladeshi immigrants, meaning a strike would also affect tourism, they say.
They want to construct the white-walled mosque on the site of an old sawmill in the nearby town of Mestre, which is located on the mainland.
The migrants say their 10,000-strong community deserves to have a spacious, elegantly built place of worship.
Prince Howlader, a representative of the Bangladeshi community, said: "Enough – we are tired of being given the runaround by the city council.
"If they don't let us build our mosque we will protest in the streets. And if we Bangladeshis go on strike in Venice, Mestre and Marghera, the Fincantieri shipyards will grind to a halt, as well as restaurants and hotels."
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