With 21 days left before the World Cup begins, Brazilian bus drivers have gone on strike—shutting down terminals across São Paulo—while thousands of police are striking in 14 of Brazil’s 26 states and smaller protests are cropping up across the country.
In São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous city with over 20 million inhabitants, over half of the city’s 28 bus terminals are closed due to the strikes. The bus strike began on Tuesday with 300 drivers marching to the the mayor’s office to demand a meeting with São Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad. Bus drivers are demanding a salary increase that surpasses the 10 percent increase agreement reached by their union, which they have rejected as insufficient. The Rio de Janeiro police force joined them yesterday, launching a 24 hour strike to call for a salary increase of their own.
Police strikes and protests are a particular concern to officials, since six of the 14 states where strikes are occurring (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Pernambuco, and Amazonas) are scheduled to hold World Cup games next month.
As the chaos continues, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s government continues its efforts to calm the protests. “We hope common sense prevails, that as the World Cup approaches these protests will diminish,”said Secretary General Gilberto Carvalho.
