SANTOS - Operations at the Port of Santos were interrupted for the third time in a month today, when pierside dockworkers walked off their jobs in a bid to get higher pay and increased benefits.
The dockworkers did not say how long the strike would last, although one shipping executive said he expected the action to be over by the end of the day.
The action came just days after another group of longshoremen who work aboard vessels struck for three days over reform of rules governing the way casual workers are assigned their jobs. They reached a compromise on the reform on Thursday. In mid-November, crane and forklift drivers also suspended operations.
Negotiations with port workers lasted until Monday evening, but the strike could not be averted.
“The movement is not going to be strong enough to follow a strike as long as the longshoremen did” last week, said Dilmar Birkett, operations manager at Zim do Brasil in Santos.
Private port operators are contesting in court a 7% wage increase and other benefits claimed by port workers.
