Brazilian police get a pre-World Cup pay raise

BRASILIA , Brazil, June 3 (UPI) -- The Brazilian government will provide its federal police officers a 15.8 percent pay raise to prevent a strike during the World Cup soccer tournament.

The agreement Tuesday follows strikes, earlier this year, in which an estimated 250,000 police officers participated. Those officers conduct criminal investigations and border security, and combat drug trafficking and terrorism.

The pay raise includes a 12 percent salary increase in July and 3.8 percent more in January. It comes days before the World Cup -- a 12-city event of global interest that will include millions of visiting tourists to Brazil -- begins June 12.

Strikes by police, as well as by teachers and civil servants, have been part of the social landscape in Brazil's run-up to the World Cup. Last year, mass protests of over a million people objected to corruption and what was perceived as excessive spending on venues and other preparations for the World Cup.

Fenapef, the federal officers' trade union, said it welcomed the pay raise and suspended future planned strikes.