Brazil workers leave Chinese ship after protest, concession

Sao Paulo, Feb 20 (AFP) About 50 Brazilian workers at South America's largest port have ended a protest aboard a Chinese freighter, unions said, after winning a concession on the use of local longshoremen. The dispute began Monday at the port of Santos in southeast Brazil after the Zhen Hua 10 arrived from Shanghai loaded with new gear to be used for unloading and moving containers in Embraport's new private terminal. The president of the dockworkers' union, Rodnei Oliveira da Silva, said yesterday that under Brazilian law, the company was required to use Brazilian longshoremen to unload the equipment in the terminal. But Embraport said unloading and installing the equipment is the responsibility of the Chinese manufacturer. The company said there were 24 Chinese workers aboard the ship, which travelled from China to work on the final phase of building the terminal. Brazilian workers had gone aboard the ship to protest starting Monday. Yesterday, the Brazilian port company said a deal was done to defuse tensions. "Exceptionally in this case, Embraport will hire a team of Brazilian day labourers so that they take part in the unloading," a company statement said, noting that demonstrators were all off the ship. (AFP) DBR 02200530 NNNN