World Cup: Brazil metro strike continues

Metro workers in Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, have voted to remain on strike for an indefinite period
despite an earlier ruling by a labour court calling on them to return to work.


 The court said that the unions had abused their powers. The governor of Sao Paulo state Geraldo Alckmin said he would dismiss employees who didn’t come to work on Monday. With most metro stations closed since Thursday, Sao Paulo has experienced horrendous traffic jams.

The dispute comes as the city prepares to host the opening match of the World Cup on Thursday Metro workers are demanding a pay rise of 12.2%; the state owned company has offered 8.7%. The court in Sao Paulo said that the metro company had acted “in good faith”. It also ruled that the workers broke strike rules by not providing a minimum level of service. At least 70% of trains should have been running during the day, and 100% during the morning and evening rush hours.

It ruled that the metro unions will have to pay 100,000 reais per day ($45,000; £25,000) for the first four days of strike and 500,000 reais ($220,000; £130,000) per day from Monday. A few hours later, the unions held a ballot and decided to carry on with the strike. The two unions negotiating with the company says that the strike will be called off if their demand is met.

 “It is not our intention to continue the strike into the World Cup. Our intention is to solve the problem. But that should be the government’s aim too,” the president of the metro workers’ union, Altino Prazeres, told O Globo newspaper.