BRAZIL SEAMEN CONTINUE STRIKE DESPITE COURT

  Hundreds of marines were on alert
  at 11 key Brazilian ports after 40,000 seamen decided to remain
  on indefinite strike, even after the Higher Labour Court
  Saturday ruled it illegal, union leaders said.
      The halt, the first national strike by seamen in 25 years,
  started on February 27, and union leaders said they would not
  return to work unless they got a 275 pct pay rise. Shipowners
  have offered a 100 per cent raise, which the seamen rejected.
      "We have nothing to lose. If they want to lay off the
  workers, fine, but we are determined to carry on with our
  protest until the end," a union leader said.
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      He said they had decided in a meeting that if the marines
  take over the ships, the seamen would abandon the vessels and
  let the marines handle the situation by themselves.
      A spokesman for the Rio de Janeiro Port said the order to
  send marines to take over the ports was given by Navy Minister
  Henrique Saboya on grounds that ports are areas of national
  security. But he said there were no incidents. The strike has
  cut exports and imports and made an estimated 160 ships idle.
      Petrol station owners in four states also continued their
  shutdown and there were fears that the combination of the two
  stoppages could lead to a serious fuel shortage.
  

