Brazilian ports strike on the cards

A worker strike could paralyse Brazilian ports beginning next Wednesday (February 20), according to the National Federation of Ports website, reports Bloomberg. A national strike could be decided in meetings scheduled for February 19-21 in Brasilia. Unions want changes to Provisional Measure (PM) 595, from December 6, which alters the concession guidelines for private companies to develop ports. The National Federation of Ports says that some unions have declared “a state of strike”. The federation reports that its president, Eduardo Guterra, says PM 595 “weakens public ports” and “endangers work” because private terminals don’t hire individual workers that are registered with the proper port authority.