Strike police occupy state legislature in NE Brazil

Published on Wednesday 8 February 2012 01:03

Around 300 striking police officers and their relatives have barricaded themselves into a state legislature building in north-eastern Brazil.

About 1,000 soldiers and officers from an elite federal police unit yesterday ringed the building in the Bahia state capital of Salvador, Brazil’s third-largest city, with 2.7 million people, due to host matches during the 2014 World Cup.

The officers, some armed with handguns, are demanding pay rises and an amnesty for what a judge has ruled was an illegal strike. Authorities said some children and wives of officers were inside the building.

About one-third of Bahia’s 30,000 police went on strike a week ago, and the murder rate in the capital immediately doubled. Official say there have been at least 100 murders since 31 January, when the strike began.

But violence has plummeted after some 2,000 troops and 600 elite federal police were sent in on Sunday and began patrolling the city in armoured personnel carriers.

Soldiers in camouflage have taken up position on street corners in the city’s historic centre and on its beaches, where tourists are concentrated.

Jacques Wagner, governor of Bahia state, said negotiators were talking with union leaders inside the building, and he expressed optimism that the stand-off would end peacefully.

The governor told TV Bahia that he was “offering consistent proposals so that we can finish this situation today”.

The strikers have narrowed their demands to an amnesty for the walk-out and payment of bonuses that would add about $350 (£220) a month to pay. Monthly salaries now range between $1,100 and $1,330, depending on rank and experience.