The Union of Subway Workers of São Paulo stated that the governor of the state, Tarcísio de Freitas, and the Companhia do Metropolitano (Metrô) lied when saying that they would have accepted the workers’ proposal to release the turnstiles to suspend the workers’ strike. On strike since the first minute of this Thursday (23), the workers yesterday proposed to the state government and the transport company to suspend the stoppage, in case the fare collection system was deactivated while the negotiations lasted. The president of the union, Camila Ribeiro Duarte Lisboa, said in an interview earlier this afternoon that the subway sent, around 8 am today, a letter to workers stating that it would open the turnstiles. Camila Lisboa also pointed out that the governor published a post on his social networks confirming that the subway would release the collection of tickets. Passengers wait to board the Palmeiras-Barra Funda station, line 3 of the Metro, during the subway strike in São Paulo – Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil According to her, while communicating the acceptance of the free turnstile, the subway filed a lawsuit with a request for a writ of mandamus requesting the annulment of yesterday’s decision by the Regional Labor Court (TRT), which allowed the release of the fare collection system. “Governor Tarcísio lied to the press, lied to the population, and lied to subway workers. He said he would accept the challenge of the free turnstile and, at the same time that he told us that, he made a request in court to cancel the free turnstile and the court granted it”, said the president of the Union of Subway Workers. The union president released the letter, signed by the president of the Metrô, Paulo Menezes Figueiredo, in which the company states that it would release the turnstiles to suspend the workers’ strike. Document in which the Metrô states that it would release the turnstiles – Metrô de São Paulo “The Companhia do Metropolitano de São Paulo – Metrô, in view of the terms of the Official Letter received on this date communicating the result of the meeting held between 00:30 and 02:00 in the sense that the category decided, by a large majority, that if the Metrô agreed to work with free turnstiles, it would return to activities, manifests itself in the following terms: Considering the deliberation of the category, the Company informs that it will release the turnstiles. To this end, it requests the immediate return of 100% of the category with the full resumption of activities as soon as possible to minimize the inconvenience arising from the stoppage”, says the text of the document. Justice According to the union, the letter was received at 8:00 am, but shortly before, at 7:19 am, according to the procedural consultation of TRT2, the request for a writ of mandamus made by the Metrô, to revoke the free turnstile decision, was sent to the plant judgment. “This is a request for the granting of an injunction based on a writ of mandamus so that ‘in order to annul the decision given in the records of the Preliminary Injunction regarding the release of turnstiles under penalty of constituting anti-union conduct, in addition to to establish that the union and the category of subway workers maintain 100% (one hundred percent) of the number of trains and employees in their workstations during peak hours (6:00 am to 9:00 am – 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm)”, says the text of the process. In a decision made available at 10:18 am, the judge Ricardo Apostolico Silva accepted the Metro’s request, and revokes the previous decision that allowed the opening of the turnstiles. “I understand that damage to the company constitutes serious damage to the public purse and cannot be determined or tolerated by the Judiciary, under penalty of becoming a facilitator of the strike movement as a measure of pressure on its interests, even if under the pretext of safeguarding interests of society at large”. Despite the state government’s acceptance of the opening of the turnstiles having already been expressed in a letter from the Metro, in the decision, the judge states that there was no agreement on the subject between the parties. “And, in this case, there was no common agreement regarding the possibility of releasing the turnstiles, so that the strike cannot be conditioned to such a situation. Nor can the movement be prevented or emptied with an eventual determination of a full return to activities”. The judge also points out that releasing the turnstiles could negatively affect the safety of passengers. “Moreover, any release of the turnstiles could subject the system to receiving users above the regular rate, in view of the evident migration of passengers from other means of transport, causing collapse and jeopardizing the safety of workers and users themselves, in addition to damage to station equipment and structure. Passengers opt for buses at the Barra Funda Terminal during the subway strike in São Paulo – Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil Histórico At the press conference, the union president recalled that there were other occasions when the Metro released the turnstile, without affecting passenger safety . “The São Paulo subway has already released turnstiles a few times. I’ll remind everyone: the last one was in the presidential election, on the 30th of October, which was a Sunday. Another occasion that the subway released turnstiles was during Carnival; another occasion that the subway released turnstiles was at the time of the acts of the Fiesp ducks [Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo], so the subway has already released turnstiles a few times and this security threat was not posed”, he said. The union also presented videos that show Metro employees ready to start operating the equipment this morning. However, according to the union, the start of work, with a free turnstile, was not authorized by the Metro. Metrô In a note, the subway said that employees continued to stop work even with the release of the turnstiles. “Faced with the continuation of the stoppage by the Union of Subway Workers, even with the release of the turnstiles, this Thursday morning (23) it obtained an injunction that determines the operation of 80% of the Metro service at peak times (between 6am and 10am and between 4 pm and 8 pm) and with 60% at other times, during the entire stoppage period, with a fee”, said the Metrô in a note. Continuation of the strike In the beginning of the afternoon, the subway workers held a new meeting and decided to continue the strike. A new audience is scheduled between the parts of the TRT from 17:00. The state government has been approached, but has not responded so far.
Agência Brasil
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