BRAZIL: World Cup construction workers at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium continue their strike for a second week

Record ID: 338616

  • Title: BRAZIL: World Cup construction workers at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium continue their strike for a second week
  • Date: 14th September 2011
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (SEPTEMBER 13, 2011) (REUTERS) CHRIST THE REDEEMER STATUE VARIOUS OF EXTERIORS OF MARACANA FOOTBALL STADIUM, WHERE WORKERS ARE ON STRIKE FOR NEARLY TWO WEEKS CLOSE OF SIGN READING: "WORK TO REFORM MARACANA STADIUM" VIEW OF CONSTRUCTION WORKERS MARCHING OUTSIDE STADIUM TO DEMAND HIGHER SALARIES VARIOUS OF WORKERS ON STRIKE CARRYING FLAGS AND POST
  • Embargoed: 29th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil, Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVANJI1Q8VVBBSOI3MGZI0Y8J5U
  • Story Text: World Cup construction workers at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium continued their strike on Tuesday (September 13) for the second week in a row after elements of a pay deal reached to end the first stoppage were not met.
    The workers halted activities for the first time in August, demanding increased wages and improved working conditions following an on-site explosion.
    Talks with the building consortium remain at an impasse and union leaders warned of delays for previously scheduled projects that were to be completed by the end of next year, ahead of the 2013 Confederations Cup.
    The head of Rio's Heavy Construction Workers' Union, Nilson Duarte Costa, said they wanted to work but they needed some guarantees to continue.
    "We want to work, but in order to work we need to solve these pending issues, including the deal that we signed 15 days ago when we had been paralyzed for four days," he said.
    Authorities dismissed concerns of delays and placed their trust in the companies, which are still evaluating consequences of nearly 25 days of strike. Workers say there is still a lot of work to do, including the demolition stage which is not completed.
    One of the workers, Ricardo Mendonca, said the consortium managers had failed to meet their basic demands.
    "We are dealing with men who can't keep their word. We are dealing with men who have no character whatsoever. All men must keep their word. If work at the Maracana is halted this is because they could not keep their word and we need explanations," he said.
    There are 2,000 men working at the stadium that will stage the World Cup final and may also host the opening match of the tournament.
    The estimated cost of renovations was reduced by 72 million Brazilian reais to 860 million ($541.2 million) last month on the orders of a federal body that controls public spending after the value of some services, equipment and materials was queried. The previous estimate was one billion reais.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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