|
Police
Strike
prior
to
Carnival
in
Brazil
The
strike
for
better
salaries
to
police
officers
of
the
states
of
Bahia
and
Rio
de
Janeiro,
a
week
before
the
famous
carnivals,
was
highlighted
on
the
national
news
on
Saturday.
Despite
the
assertion
of
Col.
Alfredo
Castro,
commander
of
the
Military
Police
of
Bahia,
that
in
his
view
the
end
of
the
strike
has
been
declared,
the
fact
is
that
the
state
policemen
decided
last
night
to
maintain
their
protest.
In
meeting
with
about
300
participants,
members
of
the
Military
Police
Forces
and
Fire
Departments
(CONCPC)
and
their
Relatives
agreed
to
maintain
the
protest
and
left
the
Union
Bank
headquarters
while
singing
the
strike
continues.
Since
Tuesday
last
week,
part
of
the
Bahia
police
officers
gathered
at
the
state
legislative
building,
which
on
Sunday
was
surrounded
by
about
600
soldiers
and
40
officers
of
the
Tactical
Operations
Command.
But
on
Thursday
this
week,
the
protesters
vacated
the
premises
though
deciding
to
keep
the
demonstration.
In
addition,
the
policemen
and
firefighters
of
Rio
de
Janeiro
on
Friday
decreed
an
indefinite
strike,
while
demanding
higher
wages.
The
decision
to
initiate
the
protest
was
taken
at a
meeting
with
more
than
2,000
representatives
from
a
total
of
70,000
police
members
of
this
city.
The
striking
leaders
pointed
out
that
30
percent
of
the
firemen
and
state
civil
policemen
will
be
available
for
emergencies,
while
the
military
police
forces
will
remain
in
their
respective
battalions
and
will
not
deal
with
any
event.
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