BRAZIL: Workers at Rio de Janeiro's Olympic Park strike to demand better working conditions

Record ID: 332101

  • Title: BRAZIL: Workers at Rio de Janeiro's Olympic Park strike to demand better working conditions
  • Date: 8th April 2014
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (APRIL 07, 2014) (REUTERS) WORKERS STANDING IN FRONT OF A SIGN FOR THE 2016 OLYMPIC PARK VARIOUS OF UNION WORKERS MEETING IN FRONT OF THE PARK CLOSE-UP OF LOGO ON UNION WORKERS JACKET (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PRESIDENT OF THE WORKERS UNION, CARLOS ANTONIO FIGUEREDO, SAYING: "It's a really big project that will go beyond the World Cup and the Olympic Games and will go until 2020, but unfortunately the consortium still hasn't noticed that. It is already underway and it seems the work will be done with less time with the work falling on the backs of workers without offering them any alternatives in terms of payment, in terms of setting up a production criteria." CAR ENTERING PASSED A SECURITY GATE SECURITY GUARDS BEHIND A FENCE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS TRUCKS AND WORKERS (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) TRUCK DRIVER, PAULO ARAUJO, SAYING: "It will be eight days tomorrow. Today is seven and tomorrow eight. Nothing is being unloaded (from the trucks)." VARIOUS OF A TRUCK AT THE SITE DOG WALKING PASSED SITE AND SIGN FOR THE 2016 OLYMPIC PARK
  • Embargoed: 23rd April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3TK2LLHB65J105F23TDZ5Z4PM
  • Story Text: Workers building Rio's 2016 Olympic Park fought with security guards on Monday (April 7) as they continued a week-long strike.
    Eyewitness said there were shots fired, but that no one was injured in the melee.
    Scuffles broke out between guards and construction workers on strike for more pay and better union representation.
    Officials said they were examining CCTV footage to identify who fired the shots.
    Later in the afternoon the president of the workers' union, Carlos Antonio Figueredo, said workers were being asked to carry too big a burden as pressure mounts to get the facility built on time.

    "It's a really big project that will go beyond the World Cup and the Olympic Games and will go until 2020, but unfortunately the consortium still hasn't noticed that. It is already underway and it seems the work will be done with less time with the work falling on the backs of workers without offering them any alternatives in terms of payment, in terms of setting up a production criteria," Figueredo said.
    The consortium responsible for the park, which is slated for delivery in the first half of next year, vowed the strike would not affect delivery dates.
    The Olympic Park is one of the focal points of Rio's Olympic Games and will host judo, basketball, tennis, handball and cycling events at a host of purpose-built facilities.
    The international broadcast centre and the main media base will also be located in the park, which is being built on the site of Rio's former Formula One track.

    "It will be eight days tomorrow. Today is seven and tomorrow eight. Nothing is being unloaded (from the trucks)," Paulo Araujo, a truck driver working at the site, said.
    Rio won the right to host the summer Olympics in 2009 and will become the first South American city to host the world's biggest multi-sport event.
    Brazil will also host soccer's World Cup this June and July.
    But even though the World Cup kicks off in 66 days, three stadiums are still not ready and promised public transportation and airports are also way behind schedule or have been abandoned.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register