SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Thousands of Brazilian truckers began an indefinite strike over tolls and freight costs on Monday but the first day of action failed to block the flow of traffic across Latin America’s biggest economy, highway police said.
Members of the United Brazilian Truck Driver Movement said 75 percent of the country’s one million truck drivers backed the strike. But the Transport Ministry called the strike “a failure,” saying only one percent of truckers participated, local media reported.
The truckers’ movement said it ordered the stoppage to pressure the government, freight companies and toll operators to address complaints that steep highway tolls and freight costs reduce their take-home pay.
They also want more safety on highways, in terms of road quality and personal security in this violence-plagued country.
“The government has made no attempt to negotiate with us so we have stopped work,” said trucker Francisco Ribeiro dos Santos, a spokesman for the movement.
“The demonstration is peaceful and we are prepared to continue until the government addresses our demands,” he added.
At the movement’s headquarters, one official said only truckers in the state of Rio de Janeiro had let the movement down with a thin turnout.
In July 1999, the same movement paralyzed Brazil over four days after choking the country’s highways with multi-wheeled semi-trailers. The supply lines for Latin America’s biggest economy soon dried up, fuel and food deliveries to major cities were cut off and inter-city commuter traffic ground to a halt.
But this time, the truckers’ action promises to be more ordered. Television images showed trucks parked along the sides of some of Brazil’s major arteries without blocking traffic.
Brazil’s highway patrol stations in the large states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais said there had been no disruption to the normal flow of traffic by Monday evening. Last week, the federal government warned it would not tolerate any blockage of highways.
Port Workers Strike With Truckers’
The truckers’ action coincided with a 24-hour strike by dockworkers at the country’s busiest port, Santos, who are embroiled in a dispute over back pay.
Santos is Brazil’s main export outlet for sugar and coffee, of which the country is both the leading world producer and exporter.
The port accounts for much of Brazil’s shipping trade and other major items handled there include soybeans and meal, refined oil products, frozen concentrated orange juice, wheat and agrochemicals.
Port terminal managers said on Monday that the short strike should not disrupt shipping much, barely effecting exports of agricultural goods.
The agricultural sector, however, is particularly vulnerable to a national truck strike because much of the country depends heavily on trucks to transport goods to its numerous ports.
Brazil, which is larger than the continental United States, has a relatively limited railroad network for its size.
