Tags
People wait to enter a train in the Estacao da Se subway station in Sao Paulo yesterday. Subway workers late on Monday suspended a strike that crippled traffic in Brazil's biggest city, but warned they could resume their walkout on Thursday.
AFP/Rio de Janeiro
Subway employees in Rio de Janeiro threatened yesterday to go on strike the day before the World Cup opens, in the latest bid to use the tournament as leverage in labour negotiations.
The threat came as their colleagues in fellow host city Sao Paulo debated whether to resume a damaging strike on Thursday, when the Brazilian mega-city hosts the World Cup opening ceremony and match.
In Rio, which is hosting seven matches including the final on July 13, the subway is the main link to the World Cup stadium, the Maracana, and around 800,000 passengers use the system every day.
"We're advising people that there may be a possible strike. We're going to do everything possible to prevent that from happening. We don't want a strike. But the company can't be so intransigent," union leader Sebastiao Batista Albuquerque said.
After negotiations with management, the union will hold a general assembly to make its decision, Albuquerque said.
If workers in Rio vote to strike, it will take effect at midnight.
They are demanding a pay increase of 22 to 23% and a reduction in the current fare of 3.50 reals ($1.55), which they say is the most expensive in the country.
In Sao Paulo, the five-day strike shut much of the city's subway system, causing huge traffic jams in the sprawling city of 20 million people as commuters scrambled to find alternative transport.
After a court ruled the strike illegal and 42 workers were fired, the union voted on Monday to suspend the strike.
But their demand for a 12.2% raise remains unresolved, and union leaders have vowed to resume the walkout if the sacked workers are not re-hired.
The union is due to vote on Wednesday on a resumption of the strike.
Brazil has been hit by a wave of strikes and protests ahead of the World Cup and elections in October.
There are no comments.
SPORT Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
TECHNOLOGY Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
CULTURE Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
ARABIA The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
ARABIA Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
ARABIA The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
ECONOMY Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.
