AKIPRESS.COM - A series of strikes by public transport workers, police, teachers and others across Brazil is proving more disruptive than protests, and some fear they could cause chaos during the tournament that begins in a week.

On Thursday, subway and commuter train operators went on strike in Sao Paulo, just one week before Brazil's biggest city hosts the World Cup's opening match. Authorities are counting on the subway to be main way that soccer fans get to Itaquerao stadium for the game, the Associated Press reporters said.

Striking teachers in Rio de Janeiro blocked main roads during the evening rush hour, snarling traffic in that city.

If such strikes continue, "there will be chaos during the World Cup," said Carla Dieguez, a sociologist at Sao Paulo University's School of Sociology and Politics.

"What we don't know is how long the strike will last and if workers in others cities where games will be held will also go on strike," she said about the subway and train strike.

A two-day walkout in April by state police officers in the northeastern World Cup host city of Salvador led to a spike in homicides and robberies. One week earlier a police strike in the city of Fortaleza, also a World Cup host, brought widespread looting during two days.

Late Wednesday a judge had ordered Sao Paulo's train operators to work at full capacity during rush hours and at 70 percent capacity in off hours. Union members voted to go ahead with the strike anyway, disdaining the judge's order that the union be fined $44,000 each day it ignores the ruling.

The potential trouble from striking public workers has overshadowed earlier worries about disruptions from protests fed by simmering anger over the billions spent by governments to host the World Cup while Brazil's schools, health system and public transit have widespread problems.

The subway strike in Sao Paulo illustrated the potential for disruptions during the World Cup. The more than 3.5 million people who use the city's public transit systems on weekdays faced chaos as only three of the five subway lines operated, and with limited service.

Enraged commuters smashed in doors at some stations when they arrived to find them closed. The station nearest Itaquerao stadium was damaged by irate travelers who kicked down metal barriers at two entryways and some jumped onto the tracks to protest.