Since grinding Brazil to a halt in 2018, truckers’ unions have tried — but failed — to stage new strikes on 16 occasions. Make it 17. After the government secured multiple injunctions prohibiting protesters from blocking roads, a strike scheduled for today has not disrupted transportation infrastructure in the country.
The latest Federal Road Police update claims that truckers have not blocked any roads. “Law enforcement is ready to keep order and the free flow of people and goods,” warned the Infrastructure Ministry in a statement.
Multiple unions started the strike at midnight but managed to get big numbers in three spots — two in Rio de Janeiro state and one in Ceará. During the early hours of the day, truck drivers unsuccessfully tried to block access to the Port of Santos, Brazil’s busiest.
Brazilian truckers complain about the continuous rise of fuel prices and that the Supreme Court has stalled for two years a trial on the constitutionality of minimum freight price tables. In addition, many union leaders have called President Jair Bolsonaro a “traitor” and said they will not support his re-election in 2022.
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