Subway workers in Sao Paulo went on strike yesterday, one week before the FIFA World Cup opens in the Brazilian mega-city, where protests against government spending on the tournament erupted a year ago.
The Sao Paulo metro is the main transport link to the economic capital’s World Cup stadium and the indefinite strike could pose a massive logistical headache for organizers.
The strike will affect 4.5 million daily passengers and could unleash commuter chaos in the sprawling city of 20 million people, which was already hit by a paralyzing bus drivers’ strike last month.
Workers went on strike at midnight after negotiations on a salary increase fell through. They rejected an offer of 8.7 percent, insisting on at least 10 percent, union president Altino Melo dos Prazeres said.
“If there’s money for the Itaquerao [the nickname of the Corinthians Arena] and the World Cup, how is it they don’t have any money for public transport?” asked Dos Prazeres, quoted by the newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo.
He said any offer would have to be in the double digits to keep up with inflation — a growing concern in Brazil, which is struggling with slowing growth and rising prices.
Brazil has been gripped by a wave of strikes and protests ahead of the World Cup and elections in October.
The movement erupted one year ago in Sao Paulo, with protests against a transport fare increase that soon ballooned into a mass show of anger over the more than US$11 billion being spent on the World Cup in a country with pressing needs in education, healthcare, transport and housing.
A million protesters flooded the streets in June last year during the FIFA Confederations Cup, a World Cup dress rehearsal.
The protests turned violent at times, overshadowing the tournament and raising fears of a repeat this year.
Many say the national mood is largely the same.
“Nothing has changed. The people took to the streets and no level of government has managed to respond to their demands,” said Antonio Carlos Costa, founder of activist group Rio da Paz. “Brazil has the seventh-largest economy in the world, but it ranks 85th on the human development index, there are 50,000 murders a year. It’s normal for people to get angry when so much money is being spent building stadiums.”
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has defended her government’s preparations for the tournament, insisting that the money spent would leave a legacy of airports and transportation infrastructure that would benefit Brazil long after the tournament.
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