Sao Paulo was thrown into chaos a week before the kick off of the 2014 FIFA World Cup as subway workers went on strike, causing one of the worst traffic snarls in the history of the Brazilian metropolis.  Bumper to bumper traffic stretched out for more than 200 kilometers.

Four and a half million people ride Sao Paulo’s subway every day, but on Thursday morning they were faced with locked gates, forcing many to try to drive to work and many, many others to queue up for impossibly long lines to get on to crowded buses.  The subway was expected to be the main mode of transportation to the 12 June opening match at Corinthians Arena, taking people directly to the station at the venue.  At one point today, commuters were so disgusted that they broke down the gates at Corinthians Arena Station.

The Union rejected an offered raise of 8.7 percent, insisting on a pay hike of at least 10 percent.  Like Brazilians from other parts of society, they are livid that US$11 Billion was spent on the World Cup, and not on the infrastructure improvements needed to support, not to mention education and healthcare.  The national mood seems just as heated as last year when more than a million people took to the streets in protest.

“Nothing has changed.  The people took to the streets and no level of government has managed to respond to their demands,” said Antonio Carlos Costa of the activist group Rio da Paz.  “Brazil has the seventh-largest economy in the world, but it ranks 85th on the human development index, there are 50,000 murders a year.  It’s normal for people to get angry when so much money is being spent building stadiums.”