Brazil: Drivers and collectors approve a bus strike in São Paulo

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Drivers and collectors of public transport buses in São Paulo went on strike from midnight today, June 29. The strike should last 24 hours if the employer does not manifest itself.

The category also approved a new assembly today, at 4 PM, to deliberate the plan of struggle and actions.

The decision was made during an assembly with more than 6,000 workers, according to the Union of Drivers and Workers in Urban Road Transport of São Paulo (Sindmotoristas), held on Tuesday, June 28, in the neighborhood of Liberdade, where the entity is headquartered.

According to the union, although it has been guaranteed the wage readjustment of 12.47% on wages and meal vouchers, the employer sector ignored the other items of the demands of the category, such as the paid lunch hour, participation in profits and results, adequacy of nomenclatures and career plan of the maintenance sector.

“It’s been two months of negotiations, and the bosses have shown themselves intransigent, asking for deadlines, patience, and postponing decisions. The category is tired of this procrastination,” said the acting president of the union, Valmir Santana da Paz, known as Sorriso.

The Union of Urban Transportation Companies of Passengers of São Paulo (SPUrbanuss) said in a statement that it regretted the strike and evaluated that it brings “terrible consequences for the mobility of the population”.

“The entity hopes that the professionals of the public transportation sector do not penalize the passengers, complying with the Court’s determination, adopted during the June 14 strike, to put 80% of the fleet in operation during peak hours,” says the note.

SPUrbanuss informed that it sent correspondence to the City Hall, the Public Security Secretary, the Municipal Secretary of Urban Security, the Metropolitan Civil Guard, and SPTrans, asking for police reinforcement in the garages and main bus corridors “to guarantee the operation of the fleet as possible, to minimize the effects of the operators’ strike.

With information from Agência Brasil