Shippers using the port of Santos, Brazil, have enjoyed a week of peace after intermittent strikes and labor slowdowns during the first week of July, but the calm may not last much longer. This week, a government minister who heads the Superior Labor Court in Brasilia, met with the president of the Union of Stevedores of Santos (Sindestiva) and the executive director for Sopesp (the port operators union) and upheld the original decision of the Sao Paulo state labor courts that container terminal operators be allowed to reduce the more expensive casual labor pool in Santos, known as OGMO.
The union of stevedores promised more action if management at four of the five container terminals in Santos – BTP, Libra Terminais, Tecon Santos and Ecoporto – failed to make concessions to the casual workers and stevedores. Meetings are being held this week, with further strike action on the agenda, but talks between the union, Brasilia, the port operators union and the terminals are continuing.