More teething problems for Brazil stadiums
Reuters - Friday 04 November 2011, 19:23
Workers ended a 10-day strike at
Brasilia's 2014 World Cup stadium on Friday while a stoppage
entered its second day at the Arena de Pernambuco in Recife.
The 2,500 construction workers at the Mane Garrincha stadium
stopped work on October 27 demanding, among other things, advance
holiday pay, time off at the end of the year and access to
dental treatment.
The agreement between the workers and the construction
companies was signed at Brasilia's labour tribunal on Friday,
said union official Raimundo Salvador Braz, adding that workers
had "moved forward."
Brasilia, which does not currently have a first-division
team, will receive seven matches - four in the group stage, one
each in the round of sixteen and quarter-finals and the third
place play-off.
Built in 1974, the stadium's capacity will be increased from
45,000 to around 70,000 for 2014 following rebuilding.
Brazil's preparations for the event have been dogged by
delays, worries over transport, airports and crime and claims
that football's governing body FIFA is trying to ride roughshod
over Brazilian law.
Sports minister Orlando Silva resigned last week amid
allegations of corruption while Ricardo Teixeira, head of the
organising committee, is the subject of a police investigation
into allegations he laundered money from bribes he is suspected
of receiving in the 1990s.
There have already been strikes at the Mineirao stadium in
Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro's Maracana this year.
Workers in Recife clashed with police after going on strike
on Thursday in protest at what they say are poor working
conditions.
Construction company Odebrecht said it did not recognise the
strike and would try and get it stopped in court.
The Arena de Pernambuco, a new stadium situated on the
outskirts of the sprawling city, will have a capacity of 46,000.