BRAZILIAN BANK STRIKE SPREADS, UNION SAYS
A nationwide bank strike launched
yesterday by Brazilian bank workers gained more support today
with the closure of the <Banco do Estado de Sao Paulo>
(Banespa) in Sao Paulo, a union spokesman said.
    The spokesman said about 530,000 of Brazil's 700,000 bank
workers were on strike. He said the chief development since
yesterday was the decision by the city's 20,000 Banespa workers
to come out on strike. Banespa is the Sao Paulo state bank.
    State-controlled <Banco do Brasil SA>, with over 3,000
branches throughout the country, closed down yesterday.
    Bank industry sources say the closure of the Banco do
Brasil will soon force the shutdown of the many private banks
which are not strike-bound.
    The bankworkers are seeking an immediate pay rise of 100
pct and monthly salary adjustments.
    A spokesman for the National Federation of Banks, Adilson
Lorente, said that yesterday only 30 pct of private banks'
branches were strike-bound. He had no estimate of how many
workers were on strike or any information on the percentage of
branches open today.
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