Rio de Janeiro police strike a danger for Carnival

RIO DE JANEIRO — Rio state police officers voted at a rally Thursday night to begin a strike that could prompt violence during the globe's biggest Carnival bash in spite of government approval of a pay raise earlier in the day.

The work stoppage will force authorities to deploy thousands of soldiers into the streets to provide security in this city of 6 million people that will host the 2014 World Cup finals and the 2016 Olympics.

A measure approved Thursday by Rio's legislature gave police, prison guards and firefighters a 39 percent raise staggered over this year and the next, along with a promise of more in 2014. But the increase is just half of what officers sought.

Union leader Helio Oliveira, a major with Rio state police, said officers' salaries have been devaluing for decades, and 56,000 officers and guards decided to walk out in protest of what they said was an insufficient raise.

"What was approved today does not meet our demands," he told The Associated Press by telephone before the strike vote. "It's half of what we want, and won't be given all at once. We want a new proposal, with a salary offer that is enough to meet our needs."

Current base pay for police starts at $964 in Rio state, which has long paid its officers far less than the salaries given by many other Brazilian states to their police forces.

A walkout by security forces could be disastrous for Brazil's Carnival, the world's largest, which draws about 800,000 tourists and is slated to begin Feb. 17.

In Salvador, Brazil's third largest city, a 10-day-old walkout by police has produced a spike in violence and homicides. That city's Carnival is Brazil's second largest, and while officials vow it will go on, many visitors have canceled their trips to the city.

Police The work stoppages are also threatening to spread elsewhere in Brazil. The newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported officers in seven of Brazil's 26 states as well as the federal district are considering their own strikes: Roraima, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Goias, Espirito Santo, Parana and Rio Grande do Sul.

Rio's festivities pump more than $500 million into the city's economy annually, and some street parades can attract nearly 2 million drunken revelers at a time.

Rio Gov. Sergio Cabral had urged officers to obey their sense of duty and responsibility.

"You cannot have a strike in essential services like public safety," Cabral said at a news conference. "Rio de Janeiro doesn't deserve this."