San Pablo transportation strike against governor’s privatization agenda | This measure paralyzed service on four subway lines and five train lines.

San Pablo subway and worker trainingThe most populous city in South America, On Tuesday, they called for a strike against the privatization agenda set by Governor Tarcisio de FreitasOne of the main allies of former President Jair Bolsonaro. The strike, which initially lasted 24 hours, completely or partially paralyzed service on four subway lines and five train lines, which connect the metropolitan area to downtown São Paulo.

Against the wave of privatization

Also joining the strike were employees of the Basic Sanitation Company of São Paulo State, the largest public water company in Latin America that supplies nearly 30 million people. The unions denounce this Transferring control of public authority to the private sector will lead to increased prices and a deterioration in the quality of services. They are also calling for a referendum to decide on the privatizations planned by the São Paulo government.

At the request of the government To Saint PaulLabor Justice forced workers to be trained to provide basic services during rush hour. The union accepted, but stipulated that the service be provided free of charge, which was not accepted by the government authorities. Bus and coach transportation operates normally in San Pablo because it depends on the municipality and not the state government.

At Barra Funda station, where train, bus and subway lines can be taken, leaders of the movements supporting the strike organized to explain to residents what privatization means and tell them the reasons for the strike. The subway in that station alone carries, on average, about 60,000 passengers per hour during peak hours.

Raquel BritoA member of the leftist Popular Unity Party who participated in the call confirmed to the Brazilian News Agency, “Public companies are assets. Privatization is very bad even for users.” The private company is trying to make profits which worsens the service and increases the prices. “The strike is a historical tool of struggle, and all that is obtained through it are rights.”

The state government is defending itself

Local authorities in the city of San Pablo, with a population of 12 million, sought to mitigate the disruption caused by the strike by enhancing the operation of bus lines that were operating normally.

Governor Tarcisio de Freitas He stated this on Tuesday in a press conference Strike ‘unlawful, abusive and patently political’ She insisted that she would pursue the privatization agenda. “We are doing what we said we would do during the campaign: start studies to check the financial viability and see if we can provide a better service” and “restore investment capacity,” he declared.

The governor of São Paulo, who was Minister of Infrastructure during the Bolsonaro administration (2019-2022), also accused the strikers of not adhering to the minimum services decided by justice. He criticized, “They do not respect the citizen, and whoever does not respect the citizen or the judiciary, who will respect him?”

This is the second strike of railway workers that Tarcisio de Freitas has faced Since he assumed the position of Governor of San Pablo. The first occurred last March, when the main union in the category demanded better salaries and new hires.

In the state of São Paulo, a new source of conflict emerged on Tuesday with a strike by workers of the third largest airline in the world, Embraer, located in the municipality of São José dos Campos. The workers denounced the company’s reduction in the benefits of the career project and the retirement system within the company, and they demanded a salary increase of more than the four percent provided by the employers.

In addition to this transportation strike, which has been ongoing for ten days by professors and students at the University of San Pablo, the most prestigious university in the country and one of the main universities in Latin America, the university administration (which depends on the funds of the São Paulo government) has suspended competitions for the recruitment of teachers in the fields of philosophy. Engineering, performing arts, cinema and literature, and the budget was left unimplemented.

Politically, these measures of strength constitute a test for Governor Freitas and his political alliances in the face of the 2026 presidential elections, in which he will emerge as one of the leaders of the right and far-right facing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. If he runs for re-election.