Brazil’s São Paulo local train workers on strike from midnight Tuesday

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – CPTM’s (Metropolitan Trains Company of São Paulo) railway workers of lines 11 – Coral, 12 – Safira and 13 – Jade decided in an assembly to go on strike from midnight on Tuesday, August 24.

The strike was voted at a meeting held on Monday, August 23, and approximately 2,500 employees are expected to strike, according to the Workers Union of Railway Companies in the Central Zone of Brazil.

The wage readjustment requested and authorized by São Paulo’s TRT-2 (Regional Labor Court 2nd Region) is 3.63% for 2020/2021 and 6.36% for 2021/2022. “It is little for the company, but it makes all the difference for workers,” the union leader says.

São Paulo’s TRT had previously ruled that the company should implement the salary readjustment. The CPTM appealed, but the TST (Superior Labor Court) ruled for the workers.

According to the union’s secretary-general Alexandre Mucio, one of the main reasons for the strike is the fact that the company has proposed the payment of retroactive amounts in 10 installments, starting in February 2022.

The union submitted a counterproposal to settle the arrears in August and September, respectively, but it was not accepted. The negotiation was mediated by São Paulo’s TRT-2 on Monday afternoon.

With respect to PPR (Program of Participation in Results) 2022, it was agreed that negotiations will be held in a “timely manner” together with the other unions representing railway workers.

In July, employees of lines 7, 8, 9, 10 and part of 13 went on strike in CPTM. The strike was organized by the São Paulo railroad workers’ union, the Sorocaba zone and the state engineers’ union.

The one-day strike on July 15 ended after an agreement was reached between the employees and the company. However, this negotiation did not include railway workers of lines 11, 12 and 13, as the Workers Union of Railway Companies in the Central Zone of Brazil was not involved in the negotiation.