By Mark Baber
February 20 – Fresh fears of whether Brazil will be ready in time to host the 2013 Confederations Cup Construction have arisen again, as workers refurbishing the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro went on strike on Monday.
The workers returned to work Tuesday, prior to an IOC visit, with the promise of further negotiations to reach agreement with the construction companies over wages, meal vouchers, overtime and health insurance.
Nilson Duarte, the president of the Union of Workers in the Industry of Heavy Construction (Sitraicp), said: “A decision on a strike will be made by the end of the week, but it appears that there will be an agreement that will fulfil the workers’ demands.”
Wagner Antunes Siqueira, a director of the Rio de Janeiro heavy industry workers’ union, told reporters: “It was a warning for the construction companies. We are going to wait for negotiations on Friday. If there is no (agreement), we will hold an assembly to vote on an indefinite strike.”
The work on the stadium must be completed by May 24 for it to be used in the tournament, with a friendly against England is due to be hosted there on June 2.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said at the end of last month that April 15 was the final cut-off.
“We cannot go beyond this date,” he said. “There cannot be any further delays. All the stadiums must be ready by then.”
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