Stevedores and military police confronted each other on Monday in a series of dockers’ demonstrations. Around 60 people were detained and 8 injured.
At the Libra Terminal, strikers tried to obstruct a ship’s operation. Shock Troops were called to put down the demonstration and eventually met resistance from workers. The Dock Road was closed off with rocks, branches, and small bonfires. Lorries which happened to be stationed in that area had their windscreens broken during the confusion. In order to calm the demonstrators, the police used bombs for “moral effect”.
The number of workers on strike rose from 6,000 to 11,000 on Monday. The losses caused by the stoppage in the Port of Santos have already reached R$2 million for the 7 days of strike.
The dockers must decide on the end of the stoppage this Tuesday. In a public session of the São Paulo Regional Labour Tribunal (TRT) on Monday afternoon, the Santos stevedores requested a period to decide whether or not to continue the strike. The Public Prosecutor conceded 24 hours for the dockers to decide by 5 pm Tuesday. If the protest continues, it must be judged as to its legality.
The dockers protested against the decision of the Court to hand over to Órgão Gestor de Mão-de-Obra (Ogmo) the responsibility for the selection of work, a role carried out by the dockers’ union.
Despite conceding the period requested by the stevedores, the president of the Regional Labour Tribunal, Judge Francisco Antonio de Oliveira, suggested that the workers call off the strike immediately. He also proposed a 30 day suspension of the dispute in the 6th Santos Labour Jurisdiction, which determined that the selection of workers be carried out by Ogmo, without the intervention of the union. According to the Judge, during this period a study of the method of selection will take place.
In a mass meeting on Monday evening, the port workers decided to continue the strike, but a final decision must be taken in a new meeting on Tuesday morning.
The mass meeting took place in a tense atmosphere, with enthusiastic speeches calling for a general strike. The conflicts occuring during the afternoon were recalled by the strikers and the Mayor, Beto Mansur (PPB), was urged by the workers to make a statement. He appeared and defended a negotiation between the workers and the directors of Libra Terminal, who insisted on maintaining ship operations.
