Subway workers return to work with turnstiles released in São Paulo

The government of São Paulo accepted the subway workers’ proposal, which had the approval of the Regional Labor Court (TRT-SP), to authorize the operation of the subway with the turnstiles released. The category started a strike this Thursday (23) to demand payment of participation in the results of the last three years and solutions to problems of lack of employees and investments. Every day, around 3 million people use lines 1-Blue, 2-Green, 3-Red and the monorail line 15-Silver, which are operated by the Metro. According to Narciso Fernandes, director of the union, the operation should be normalized around 10:30 am, in view of the journeys of subway workers to work stations. “We were trying to negotiate with the government since yesterday”, pointed out Fernandes. He points out that the category agreed to keep the operation with the turnstile released, as a form of protest, but the Metrô did not immediately accept the proposal. Metrô did not respond to Agência Brasil’s questions about the release of the turnstiles. In a previous note, the company said that “there is no justification for the Union of Subway Workers to declare a strike claiming what has already been fulfilled by the company”. “This reality does not allow the payment of a salary bonus at this time, since the company had significant drops in revenue due to the pandemic and has not yet had a full return on passenger demand, compared to 2019”, says the text. The company informed that it will activate its contingency plan to guarantee the minimum functioning of the system. Commuting At the Marechal Deodoro subway station, line 3-Red, which connects the central region to the east zone, the gates were closed and there was a strike notice posted on the railings. In a few minutes, the Agência Brasil report identified at least four people who did not know about the stoppage. Account analyst Robson Santos Araújo was one of the surprised passengers. He commented that, every day, the commute to work starts there and ends at Brigadeiro station, on Avenida Paulista. In addition to the Red-3 line, it passes through the Yellow-4 line. Speech therapist Natália Rodrigues works in the neighborhood of Lapa. “I take the Red-3 subway line and then the Lapa train to get there”. Around the station, around 8 am, the flow of passengers was small, without long queues. Release of turnstiles The TRT-SP rejected an injunction this Thursday (22), at the request of the Metro, to set a minimum number of trains to operate in the event of a strike. The decision accepted the release of turnstiles, a method proposed by the workers’ union to rule out the possibility of harm to the population. “According to the judge reporting the decision, Eliane Aparecida da Silva Pedroso, in this way there is no reduction in the offer of transport services to the community, contrary to what was proposed by the employers’ union. In the magistrate’s opinion, a strike is a nuisance and aims to mobilize society around the demands and needs of a community”, says a statement from the TRT. Bus lines This morning, SPTrans informed that it extended two lines and reinforced the existing fleet of 13 that serve the axis of subway lines in the city due to the stoppage of subways. The city hall agency reported that it has been following the movement of passengers on municipal lines since 00:00 and has ordered concessionaires of the municipal public transport system to keep the fleet operational at 100% throughout the day, including between peaks. Granted lines ViaMobilidade and ViaQuatro concessionaires, which operate metro lines 4-Yellow and 5-Lilac; and lines 8-Diamante and 9-Esmeralda of metropolitan trains, informed that the operations follow normally this Thursday and that new trains for reinforcement of the operation are being evaluated. In a note, Metrô confirmed that the union of subway workers was notified of the release of the turnstiles, “so as not to further harm the population that depends on transport”. The company made it a condition that this would be done as long as there was an immediate return of 100% of the operation and maintenance employees, “to guarantee the safety of passengers”. According to the government, “the release should generate losses, further hindering the financial health of the company”. Metrô alleges that “it has tried all forms of negotiation, including the granting of benefits such as the payment of salary increases. The company also fully complies with the collective bargaining agreement and labor laws”.

Agência Brasil