Modern slavery: 32 workers are rescued from a sugarcane field in the interior of SP

The workers were hired by an outsourced company that provided services for a large plant in the region and were housed in houses in the city of Palmares Paulista.

According to Detrae, they came from the Minas Gerais cities of Berilo, Jenipapo de Minas, Francisco Badaró, Minas Novas and Turmalina.

The victims had to travel standing up in two packed vans and had to pay for tickets and travel costs.

In addition to not receiving salary or food payments from the employer, the workers had to pay in advance the rent for the houses where they stayed. A promeOne of the recruiters was to provide decent accommodation.

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Due to the conditions, they incurred debts in the city market. The market accounts, in the name of each of them, were opened by a person in charge of the company. Victims were also expected to pay for cooking gas and some even purchased stoves and beds.

When they were in the field, on the farm, there was no place to heat their lunchboxes, and they left their accommodation with food at around 6 am.

Inspections showed that, of the five accommodations, two were in poor condition regarding security, sealing, hygiene, privacy and comfort. There was no ventilation, the wiring was exposed, the septic tank was outdoors and the bathrooms were unusable.

“On the floor of this place there was an open sewage manhole, one of the access doors could not be locked, due to the lack of a key, and the worker spread pieces of tarpaulin in the holes they had, to try to prevent the light from entering. street”, says the text of the operation.

What is a situation analogous to slavery?

According to Superior Labor Court, a worker who has to work excessive hours or who works in unhealthy environments, without minimum health and safety conditions, is in conditions analogous to slavery.

The situation is more common than we imagine. See the data ⤵️:

• In the last five years, all instances of the Labor Court judged 10.482 cases on the subject. And the number of shares grew 41% between 2020 and 2021.
• MPT data show that, since 1995, at least 57 thousand workers have been rescued in Brazil from conditions similar to slavery.
• In 2021, 1.415 complaints were received about slave labor, grooming and worker trafficking, a number 70% higher than that recorded in 2020.

Punishment

With the incident in the Pirangi sugarcane field, the employer paid the workers, including severance pay. Workers will receive unemployment insurance in three installments of one minimum wage each.

A Conduct Adjustment Term (TAC) was signed with the MPT, in which the company agreesprometo resolve irregularities and not rehire employees under these conditions.

The company must also reimburse the victims for the amounts they paid.

(With information from Agência Brasil)

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