Brasília, March 11, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Federal Police strike, which began on Tuesday (9) throughout the country, continued yesterday (10), with the backing of around 80% of the total force. This means that eight thousand agents, clerks, and fingerprint technicians are off the job.

The greatest difficulties are concentrated in the airports, where there are long lines and delayed flights, and in the issuing of passports, which are taking twice as long to be delivered (a month, on average).

The Federal Police paralyzed their activities to demand the same basic salaries as those paid to university graduates, R$ 7,000.00. (DAS)