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Transnordestina railway construction halted in three states.

Workers are on indefinite strike in Pernambuco, Ceará, and Piauí; they are demanding the implementation of the Profit Sharing Program and the payment of the Productivity Incentive Bonus.

Transnordestina railway construction halts in three states (Photo: Odebrecht/Press Release)

Leonardo Lucena_PE247 – Works on the Transnordestina Railway are paralyzed in three states in the Northeast. The Union of Workers in the Road Construction, Paving and Earthmoving Industries in the State of Pernambuco (Sintepav-PE) declared a strike starting today (16) for an indefinite period. The stoppage also occurs in Ceará and Piauí, where other parts of the construction are taking place.

The union leaders had already informed that they had been trying to negotiate the category's demands for more than a month. Last Friday (13), the union leaders held a meeting to discuss whether or not to go on strike. As there was no agreement, Sintepav decided to stop activities from the beginning of this week.

Reports indicate that Odebrecht, the construction company responsible for the project, cited non-payment by Transnordestina Logística S/A, the company's client, as justification for the delay.

 The workers are demanding participation in the Profit Sharing Program (PLR) and payment of the Productivity Incentive Bonus (PIP), which aims to reward workers as they achieve targets set by the company. The payment covers the entire year of 2011 up to June 2012. Even workers laid off last year did not receive the bonuses.

The Transnordestina railway is considered essential for regional development. Aimed at increasing the points of outflow for agricultural and mineral production, the railway will connect the municipality of Eliseu Martins in Piauí to the ports of Pecém (Ceará) and Suape (Pernambuco), totaling 1.728 kilometers. The project is budgeted at approximately R$ 6,7 billion and should have been completed in 2012, but is now expected to be delivered only at the end of 2013.

O Pernambuco 247 We tried to contact Sintepav, but were unsuccessful by the time this article was published.