Brazil Airports Are Chaotic Post-Strike

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

Brazil Airports Are Chaotic Post-Strike
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Apr 1, 12:34 AM (ET)

By PETER MUELLO

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - Air traffic controllers protesting working conditions ended their one-day strike Saturday after the government agreed to their demands, but Brazil's president said the controllers went too far when they paralyzed flights across the nation.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who gained fame as a union leader, said it was unacceptable for the controllers to cause chaos that left thousands of travelers stranded and prompted the military to send in troops to control unruly passengers in the capital of Brasilia.

"People that perform a service considered essential must have more responsibility than others," Silva told reporters in Washington before meeting with President Bush. "When I was a union leader and wanted to order a strike in companies, there were certain sectors that we decided wouldn't stop work, because it was important for the production of the service that was essential."


Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva talks with reporters during a joint news conference with President Bush, not pictured, at Camp David, Md., Saturday, March 31, 2007. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Controllers were protesting a decision by the Air Force command, which oversees Brazil's air traffic controllers, to transfer top workers to other cities. They saw the transfers as retaliation against strikers for slowdowns that they staged periodically during the past six months.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070401/D8O7JD4G0.html

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. and a brazilion people are left stranded.