A metro workers’ union "has threatened to hold the government to ransom by causing travel chaos at Thursday’s World Cup opening in São Paulo, as conflict flared on the fifth day of strikes," according to Donna Bowater of the London TELEGRAPH. Police "clashed with strikers after staff walked out again on Monday, just three days before the first World Cup game between Brazil and Croatia is due to take place in the city at the Corinthians Arena." Union leaders "ignored threats by the state government" of 500,000 real ($224,000) fines for each day of further suspensions. Police "used tear gas to try to disperse the crowds at Ana Rosa station in São Paulo as protesters in support of the metro union, which is seeking a pay rise for its members, met at a rally from 7am local time" (TELEGRAPH, 6/9). BLOOMBERG's Malinowski & Colitt wrote the metro train operator said that "three of the city's five subway lines were partially shut down and 60 striking workers were fired." Protests "have coincided with a drop in support for President Dilma Rousseff, who has confronted criticism over World Cup expenditures and delays in related infrastructure projects." A union statement published on Sunday said that the Subway employees "want Rousseff to help restart wage negotiations with the local government" (BLOOMBERG, 6/9). In London, Nick Wilson wrote there were "two separate skirmishes in São Paulo on Monday." Riot police "fired tear gas to disperse about 150 protesters after they set fire to piles of rubbish to block a central street." In a separate incident, "police used a stun grenade to break up a group of 70 striking workers who had entered a central metro station to try to convince supervisors to join the strike." The metro employees voted to remain on strike "for an indefinite period," while the governor of São Paulo state, Geraldo Alckmin, warned that he would "dismiss his employees who did not come to work on Monday." It added that the court "had ruled that unions had abused their powers and that their employer had acted in good faith" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 6/9).
