Workers at three Rio de Janeiro airports are holding a single-day strike on the first day of World Cup games in Brazil after nine months of negotiations between the airport workers’ union and employers fell through, though travelers arriving in town for the games have thus far seen little in the way of resulting delays, according to Bloomberg. The striking union had sought World Cup bonuses, better working conditions and 12 percent raises; employers had refused to go higher than eight percent, writes Al Jazeera America.
Aristegui Noticias reports that 70 percent of check-in counter and maintenance employees are still on the job at domestic terminals Santos Dumont and Jacarepaguá and international airport Galeao, along with 80 percent of baggage handlers, after a labor court threatened unions with fines of up to $22,400 if they did not keep staffing at 80 percent. The airport workers are the latest in a number of Brazilian unions which have held strikes in recent weeks, pointing to skyrocketing price tags of Cup-related construction in demanding greater benefits for their workers.
About 1,500 subway workers in Sao Paolo declared a strike last week, paralyzing traffic in the city after employers refused to go higher than an 8.7 percent pay raise -- short of the 10 percent the workers demanded. They’re back on the job in time for the games after returning to work on Monday, though in an interview with Al Jazeera, union president Altino Prazeres wouldn’t rule out a resumption of the strike later in the month.
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