Workers demanded changes at oil firm Petrobras
SAO PAULO (Reuters) — Brazil's economy showed signs of returning to normal on Thursday, as the nation's largest oil workers association ended a strike well ahead of schedule and an 11-day truckers protest appeared to dissolve, except in the nation's far south.
The FUP, Brazil's largest oil workers union, recommended on Thursday that members suspend a 72-hour strike they began a day earlier, after a court said the organization would be fined 2 million reais (US$537,000) for each day the strike continued.
The strike demanding changes at state-led oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA, commonly known as Petrobras, was the latest challenge for the company, whose shares tumbled nearly 30 per cent in the past two weeks over fears that political interference would unwind recent investor-focused policies.
The Thursday decision to end the strike appeared in part to be a reaction to the court decision, which deemed the walkout illegal, saying the action had political aims rather than labour-related goals.
Among the workers' aims were the replacement of current chief executive Pedro Parente. They also wanted the end of market-based fuel pricing and the reversal of other changes made since President Michel Temer took power in 2016.
Meanwhile, a trucker’s protest, which has strangled much of Brazil's economy for 11 days, appeared to be winding down. With Thursday a holiday in Brazil, many left the city of Sao Paulo along major routes without incident.
Gasoline supplies, which had become short in recent weeks, were back to normal at 70 per cent of locations, Aurelio Amaral, the director of Brazil's ANP oil regulator, told Reuters. Still, he said, there remained almost 60 blockades in the southern states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, where supplies remained a significant issue.
