February 9, 2012

Brazil World Cup venue workers threaten strike

SAO PAULO, Brazil

Workers building and renovating Brazil’s stadiums for the 2014 World Cup are threatening to go on strike if employers don’t agree to their demands for unified salaries and benefits.

There have been isolated strikes across the nation, but now the unions representing the workers in each of the 12 host cities are trying to come together to plead for better conditions for everyone.

Union leader Claudio da Silva Gomes said the workers are ready to go on strike as early as next month if construction companies don’t agree to give employees the same salaries and benefits regardless of which venue they are working on. FIFA has said World Cup preparations are already behind schedule and stadium construction has been one of the main concerns. The strike would likely create even more delays at several venues, especially the ones which need to have stadiums ready for the Confederations Cup next year.

Gomes, a leader at the national union organization CUT, said they will tell the government and World Cup organizers about their intentions in the coming weeks.

“We have workers doing almost exactly the same kind of work but they are not earning the same salary or being entitled to the same benefits at the different venues. This doesn’t make sense,’’ he said. “If they are doing the same work, they should be getting paid the same salary, regardless of which region they are working in.’’

Pay discrepancies are common in Brazil in nearly all sectors, especially in the more impoverished north and northeast regions.

Gomes said the workers in the southeast and the southern regions are making nearly twice as much as the ones in the northeast.

Support in the cities where workers are already receiving better salaries may not be as strong. Workers in Rio, for example, said they might not even join the movement if they are able reach a separate agreement locally. There are more than 20,000 workers either renovating or building the stadiums in the 12 host cities.

“The civil construction sector is struggling to find more workers, this is a good opportunity to reach a good deal which eventually can be extended to other construction sectors throughout the country,’’ Gomes said.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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