Two strikes by state police forces, a violent one in Bahia and a lower-intensity one in Rio de Janeiro, ended within days as a result of the rapid response by the state and federal governments — the former seeking to meet some of the strikers’ demands, the latter making it clear that violence would be resisted and those resorting to it would be prosecuted. The two were called off before the beginning of Carnival, but there are indications that police dissatisfaction will surface again once the tourists have left.
The strike launched by the state police of Bahia on 31 January quickly began to look more like an uprising than industrial action. The ringleader, Marco Prisco (a former police officer who was dismissed from the force a decade ago for having led another strike), ordered roadblocks on the accesses to the state capital, Salvador, and the torching of vehicles. He was detected plotting with their counterparts in Rio to sabotage the carnivals in both cities, major tourist attractions scheduled to begin tomorrow (16 February). He also personally led the occupation of the state legislature by 245 officers.
Some may also have had a part in the sudden surge of murders that followed the withdrawal of a police presence from the streets. In the metropolitan area of Salvador, 157 people were killed in the first 12 days of the month, compared with 172 recorded in the whole of February last year. The director of the Bahia civil police’s homicide division, Arthur Gallas, said there was evidence that at least 38 of the killings were carried out by the vigilante groups known as ‘militias’, formed mainly by serving and retired police officers.
On 2 February a court in Bahia declared the strike illegal. The federal government despatched 2,600 soldiers to Bahia and announced that a further 4,000 were standing by to intervene if necessary. About 1,000 soldiers surrounded the state legislature. The occupation of the legislature was lifted on 9 February and Prisco was arrested, as were another 11 ringleaders. Bahia’s governor, Jacques Wagner, announced an immediate 6.5% salary increase, plus a series of additional benefits which, over the coming three years, would add up to the 30% pay increase the strikers had demanded. On 13 February the state military police announced the lifting of the strike, claiming victory for having made the government admit that their pay was too low.
On 10 February the military and civil police forces and the fire-fighters in Rio state announced the launch of an indefinite strike. The state government pre-empted this move by announcing the introduction of a bill bringing forward to February 2013 a 26% pay increase that had been scheduled for October that year — which was quickly approved by the state legislature. The police high command promptly ordered the arrest of 11 of the strike leaders and 50 officers who refused to work (17 of the detainees were handed over to the judiciary).
On 13 February the strike was called off, but the three unions involved announced that they would decide on further action after the end of Carnival. The Rio strikers — the lowest paid of all state public security forces in Brazil — had been demanding a monthly pay “floor” equivalent to US$1,882, more than twice last year’s level.
Federal and state officials had signalled early on that police strikes might also break out in five other states (Alagoas, Espírito Santo, Paraná, Pará and Rio Grande do Sul). Nothing had happened in any of these by the time the first two strikes had been called off, but on 11 February the military police and fire-fighters of the federal district of Brasília announced that they would be launching a peaceful movement in demand of pay increases. The Brasília military police are the best paid in Brazil, at a level three-and-a-half times higher than that of their counterparts in Rio. It is worth noting that the Bahia military police earn almost twice as much as their Rio counterparts, ranking 10th in the nationwide pay scale.
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