On Tuesday (28/11), a new strike by subway workers, railway workers, teachers and employees of Fundação Casa and Sabesp (São Paulo Sanitation Company) led to an escalation in tensions between Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) and the union movement, even though the movement lost accession and generated a feeling of less disruption than was observed in previous strikes. The group protests the privatization campaign promoted by Governor Tarcísio.
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Previous Strikes
This is the third strike this year carried out to request the suspension of the privatization process. The debate gained momentum after the company that acquired the rights to provide energy services to many cities in the state after an older privatization process, Enel – including the capital –, was unable to avoid and quickly solve a blackout that affected millions in São Paulo metropolitan area. Some buildings remain without energy for more than 48 hours.
Accession
At least 88% of Metro employees joined the strike, according to the company. According to Tarcísio, 70% of the CPTM (Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos) workforce attended work and, at Sabesp, the workforce was 80%. It is a contrast with the mobilization on October 3rd, when there was total support from Metro employees and the public lines (1-blue, 2-green, 3-red and 15-silver) were closed all day. At CPTM, three of the five public lines have been partially operating since early this Tuesday morning, also a smaller stoppage than in the previous strike, when the closure was complete for a few hours on lines such as 11-coral and 7-rubi.
The strike does not affect the privatized subway lines (4-yellow and 5-lilac) and trains (8-diamond and 9-emerald).
Traffic
With the strike, vehicle traffic became heavy early in the capital. According to the Traffic Engineering Company (CET), 630 km of traffic jams were recorded at 08h00 on Tuesday (28/11)— an increase of 6.2% compared to Tuesday last week (the 21 November).
Sabesp
The state government claims that all water supply, sewage collection and treatment systems operated regularly in Sabesp’s network. The shutdown tends to have a greater impact on emergency response.
Schools
Regarding the impacts of the strike on the education network, the State Education Department informed that four schools, out of a total of 5,300, did not operate this Tuesday, and that 621 teachers joined the demonstrations and paralyzed activities. Some health facilities also had its service affected.
Violence
During the strike, protesters were attacked by an angry passenger on the line at an entrance to the 10-Turquoise line. There were aggressions between the passenger and union members.
Analysis:
As tensions continue quite high between São Paulo state government and labor unions, and no side give indications of giving up on their goals, strikes that interrupt the regular activities in the public transportation sector will likely continue to happen. In terms of violence, during new strikes, new sporadic episodes of violence between passengers and union members are also very likely to occur again near the subway and train stations. Therefore, those dependent on these systems should remain alert for the news of other similar events and, when they happen, avoid areas where passengers and union members gather.
