International
Damir Sagolj / Reuters
Subway workers were on strike in São Paulo for a fifth day on Monday, with Brazil’s biggest city in chaos just days ahead of the opening match of the World Cup soccer tournament, even after a court ruled the strike illegal a day earlier.
The decision by subway workers, who seek a pay increase of almost twice the annual inflation rate, may trigger another day of record traffic jams in the city, which has over 20 million people.
Workers will vote later Monday on extending the strike, after a downtown rally that will be joined by groups representing homeless workers.
Police used tear gas on Monday to break up the start of a demonstration blocking access to the Ana Rosa subway station in downtown São Paulo’s southeastern corner.
Union leader Alexandre Roland was one of the strikers hit by tear gas early Monday. He says that the workers will stay on strike until the government sits down to negotiate — even through the World Cup.
Workers burned bags of garbage in protest of the detentions of several subway union leaders. No injuries were reported.
“The World Cup is not an excuse for us” to strike, Paulo Pasin, president of the country’s nationwide union of subway workers, Fenametro, told Reuters at Ana Rosa. “We want to reopen negotiations.”
Sunday’s court decision ordered the subway workers’ union to pay a $222,000 fine for every day that the strike continues, up from the $45,000 per day it had to pay for the strike’s first four days.
FIFA and Brazilian government officials are said to be watching the developments closely, given that the majority of the tourists and football fans in São Paulo will be using the metro to go to the opening match. The five-line subway system has been partially operating, but trains were not arriving at the Corinthians Arena, which will host the opening game.
The World Cup kicks off Thursday as Brazil and Croatia face off in São Paulo’s north end.
Frustration with broken promises and the ballooning cost of new World Cup stadiums contributed to widespread protests that drew over a million Brazilians into the streets during a warm-up tournament last year.
This year the largest demonstrations so far have been by homeless groups and striking workers using the backdrop of the World Cup to press their causes.
Workers want a 12 percent pay increase; the state’s subway company has offered 8.7 percent.
Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from São Paulo, contributed to this report, with wire services
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