Threats of chaos

Some time ago, maybe a year or more, there was a short bus strike. The companies wanted to raise the price of a ride on one of our many city buses some thing like another R$1 or so and when the talks weren't going well (or at all, I can't quite remember), the drivers took a one day strike that threw the city in to absolute chaos. Nannies couldn't get to their charges, doormen couldn't get to work, security guards were stuck at home, people who normally took buses had to brave the streets in their cars... I remember distinctly that there was a lot of traffic on the roads that day, and that several people were still waiting at bus stops in hopes of a bus coming by anyway, or that one of the opportunists would stop and give them a ride to where they needed to go for a small fee if it were on the way or a larger one if it wasn't. The city stops with out buses. We have no other transportation (save the monorail that has been under construction for 10+ years now) and those who are too poor to have a car but have a job and mouths to feed are the ones who get screwed the most. Some employers expect the employees to find there way to work on their own. Others will go pick them up or arrange other transportation. The traffic becomes ridiculous (when it already was before).



The buses are about to go on strike again. The drivers only make a little more than R$600 a month. If no agreement is reached for a pay raise, they will strike on Tuesday, as was announced on the news this morning. Lets all cross our fingers...