Subway workers put their protest on hold Monday night but warned they could resume their walkout on Thursday, when Sao Paulo hosts the first game of the soccer World Cup, according to Reuters.
Subway workers in Rio de Janeiro, meanwhile, were holding an assembly to vote on whether they would strike to demand higher wages, threatening to disrupt transportation, but by late Tuesday night there was no announcement of their decision, Reuters reported.
Both situations are deeply worrying for World Cup organizers because of the subway systems role in carrying tens of thousands of fans to the games, according to Reuters.
The problem is a bigger worry for Sao Paulo, where the Itaquerao stadium is far from the hotel areas where most Cup tourists will stay, Reuters reported.
Union workers in Sao Paulo suspended their strike for two days, but planned to vote again Wednesday to decide whether to renew it, according to Reuters. If they do, the subway system would grind to a halt on Thursday just as Brazil's national soccer team faces Croatia in the Cup's opening match.
Sao Paulo's Metropolitan Transportation agency said it has a "Plan B," yet refused to say exactly what that would entail, Reuters reported.
A Sao Paulo labor court has fined the union $175,000 for the first four days of the strike and said it would add $220,000 for each additional day the work stoppage continued, according to Reuters.
The subway strike was the latest unrest to hit Brazil in the run-up to the World Cup. Teachers remain on strike in Rio and routinely block streets with rallies, Reuters reported. Police in several cities have gone on strike, but are back at work now.
There also has been a steady drumbeat of anti-government protests across Brazil blasting spending on the World Cup and demanding improvements in public services, according to Reuters. The protests that began last year have diminished in size but not in frequency, and they also have disrupted traffic at times.
