TRT determines minimum staff for subway operation

The Regional Labor Court of the 2nd Region (TRT-2) granted, this Thursday (23), at around 10:00 am, an injunction that determines the operation of the subway lines on strike with 80% of the service at peak times ( between 6am and 10am and between 4pm and 8pm) and 60% at other times. Subway workers on lines 1-Blue, 2-Green, 3-Red and the monorail line 15-Silver have started a strike starting today, to demand payment of participation in the results of the last three years of the Metrô, as well as solutions to problems of shortages of employees and investments. In a note, Metrô said that “there is no justification for the Union of Metro Workers to declare a strike claiming what has already been fulfilled by the company”. “Reality does not allow the payment of a salary bonus at this time, since the company has 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. Passengers wait to board at the Palmeiras-Barra Funda station, Line 3 of the Metro, during a subway strike in São Paulo – Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil Catracas Around 9 am today, the state government announced that it would accept the release of the turnstiles, proposed by the subways, but the stations have not reopened. Metrô’s press office told Agência Brasil, around 12:30 pm, that this was due to safety reasons, as 100% of the workforce did not return. The company, however, did not inform what percentage is missing at the moment. At the beginning of this afternoon, subway workers hold a new assembly to decide on the continuity of the wall movement. This Thursday’s injunction (23) was granted following a request for a writ of mandamus by the Metro in which it requests the annulment of a previous decision, which rejected the request for the court to set a minimum quantity for the trains to operate. In case of non-compliance, a fine may be imposed on the workers’ union in the amount of R$ 500,000 per day. The magistrate explains that “considering the circumstances and urgency of the case, and in view of the express manifestation of the company for its refusal to release the turnstiles, I understand the need to establish certain parameters for the regular exercise of the wall movement”. The previous decision by the judge-rapporteur for the case, Eliane Aparecida da Silva Pedroso, did not set a minimum number of trains to operate in the event of a strike and accepted the release of turnstiles, a method proposed by the workers’ union so as not to harm the population. Impacts Every day, almost 3 million people circulate on the paralyzed lines. During the morning, many passengers were surprised on arrival at the stations and others had difficulties completing the journey to work. On Avenida Paulista, where there is integration of lines 4-Yellow – which continued to operate as it is operated by a concessionary company –, and 2-Green, around 9:30 am, people were still confused about which route to take. Health analyst Maiara Farias left Suzano, in the metropolitan region, and arrived at Estação Luz, where she managed to board Line 4-Yellow, but, when she arrived in the region of Avenida Paulista, she found Line 2-Green paralyzed. “I’m waiting for a friend so we can take an Uber. I will spend some extra money, ”she reported. Hairdresser Regina Reis comes from Vila Itaim, on the east side of the city. As she uses the train, she was not harmed by the strike. But on the way down Line 4-Yellow, at Estação Paulista, on Rua da Consolação, she was confused about which direction to go. Normally, it uses the connection to Consolação Station, on Line 2-Green. “That’s why I got flustered.” Inside the station on Line 4-Yellow, employees were trying to redirect the flow to the exit, the number of people was higher than usual due to the connection being closed. Over the loudspeakers, it was intermittently informed that lines 1-Blue, 2-Green, 3-Red and the monorail line 15-Silver were paralyzed. Maria Lúcia da Silva is a servant at a hospital and had already warned her at work that she would be late. “I take Line 3-Red, I go to Sé [no centro] and then I take the [Estação] Welt. Today is difficult. I had to take a train and now I’m going to walk. I’ll take any bus to get off at Estação Vergueiro”, she reported. Transportation The Traffic Engineering Company (CET) recorded 432 kilometers (km) of traffic jam around 11:30 am. The worst condition was in the south zone, with 110 km of queues. SPTrans informed, this morning, that it extended two lines and reinforced the existing fleet of 13 that serve the axis of the subway lines in the city, due to the stoppage of subways. The city hall body also pointed out that it determined the concessionaires of the municipal public transport system to maintain fleet operation at 100% throughout the day, including between peaks. The 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. * Collaborated with reporter Daniel Mello

Agência Brasil