SANTOS, Brazil - Pierside dockworkers, in another show of strength, have won a 7% wage increase after a 48-hour strike at Latin America’s largest port here.
Operations returned to normal this morning at the main container terminals after companies agreed to higher wages during a conciliatory meeting in a labor court. The raise is retroactive to March.
“It’s a victory because there was an attempt to resist a legal decision,” said Valter Santana, president of the port workers.
Last week, in a separate protest, longshoremen preserved their right to interfere in the appointment of casual dockers who work aboard vessels. A three-day strike and intimidation tactics forced port officials to revise their plans to break the union monopoly on labor and find a compromise with longshoremen.
Pierside dockworkers, who are represented by a separate union, form the second largest group after the on-board longshoremen. In practice however, when one group decides to strike, the other follows suit in a sign of solidarity.
Such concessions indicate that port operations remain vulnerable to demands from trade unions, which may be as strong as ever in Santos.
