Monday night's unexpected decision to temporarily halt the five-day strike is not thought to have followed a breakthrough in talks between the metro union and the government, but instead could have occurred following pressure from Sao Paulo residents.
The union is expected to meet again on Wednesday to decide whether the strike — which has created traffic chaos in Brazil's biggest city — would continue.
The union is seeking a 12 percent wage hike but the government says it won't offer anything above 8.7 percent. Meetings between government officials and union representatives on Monday stalled on that point.
Authorities are deeply worried about the labor action because the subway is the main means of transportation for fans who will attend the tournament's initial game between Brazil and Croatia. The stadium is about 12 miles east of central Sao Paulo, where most tourists stay.
Earlier on Monday Sao Paulo police clashed with striking subway workers who had continued to stay away from work despite a court declaring their strike to be illegal.
Riot police firing tear gas pushed about 100 striking workers out of a station.
"This is the way they negotiate, with tear gas and repression," Alexandre Roland, a union leader, told The Associated Press as he and others regrouped outside the station after confronting riot police.
The striking workers marched toward the city center, where they planned to join a wide-ranging rally by various activist groups, including homeless workers demanding low-cost housing and a group calling for free public transportation.
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