Rio soldiers on with big carnival as police strike over pay

Authorities said 14,000 soldiers stood ready to patrol Rio’s streets, but as yet they were not needed. How the city handles the security crisis could have international repercussions, as Rio prepares to host matches for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

“The situation is normal, we’ve been monitoring all the units all morning,” police spokesman Frederico Caldas said yesterday.

He said there were, as yet, no major problems or clashes with the striking police and that “we will not accept any sort of action against discipline”.

It was not clear how many of the 58,000 police and firefighters in Rio were adhering to the strike, but union officials expected anywhere from 50 per cent to 70 per cent to join.

The officers decided during a midnight rally to start the work stoppage, not content with approval of a 39 per cent pay rise to be staggered over this year and the next, along with a promise of more in 2014.

The increase was just half of what officers sought. They said their salaries have fallen far behind rising prices over the decades, and called their vote to strike a protest against an insufficient raise.

“We didn’t want to strike,” said Paulo Nascimento, a search and rescue firefighter.

The decision was made by thousands of officers and firefighters who massed in downtown Rio for a six-hour assembly that included fireworks, chants and speeches denouncing Rio’s government.

“I feel like a citizen,” said Joao Morais da Silva, a retired police officer who was shot and lost an eye while on duty. “I feel like we’re standing here asking for what’s our right.”

Current base monthly pay for police starts at $964 in Rio state, which despite being Brazil’s second-wealthiest state has long paid its officers far less than the salaries earned by their colleagues in many other parts of the country.

Rio state police suffer high fatality rates as they battle powerful drug gangs and street crime. In 2010, 19 police officers were killed at work, and 31 were killed in 2009, the latest data shows.

A walk-out by security forces could be disastrous for Brazil’s carnival celebration, the world’s largest, which is due to begin on 17 February.

Police are already on strike in Salvador, Brazil’s third-largest city, and the ten-day-old walkout has brought a spike in violence and homicides. That city’s carnival is Brazil’s second-largest, and while officials vow it will go on, many visitors have scrapped their trips to the city.

Work stoppages of police are also threatening to spread to seven more of Brazil’s 26 states as well as the federal district are considering strikes.

Rio’s festivities pump more than $500 million into the city’s economy annually, and some street parades can attract nearly two million revellers at a time.

Rio governor Sergio Cabral had urged officers to stay at work, appealing to their sense of duty and responsibility.

“You cannot have a strike in essential services like public safety,” Mr Cabral said. “Rio de Janeiro doesn’t deserve this.”

Dissatisfaction among officers and firefighters in Rio has been brewing for months, with protest marches growing.

Last month, 20,000 officers marched along Copacabana beach demanding a wage increase, fewer hours on the job and a bonus for difficult working conditions.