Brazilian authorities said on Monday they had shut down construction work at a factory site for Chinese electric vehicle-maker BYD after workers there were found living in “slavery-like conditions”.
Brazil’s Public Ministry of Labor (MPT) said in a statement that it had rescued 163 Chinese workers from the site in Camacari city, which was to be BYD’s first EV factory outside of Asia.
A series of inspections since November had “revealed an alarming picture of precariousness and degradation,” it said.
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“We found that the work of … these 163 workers, was carried out in slavery-like conditions,” labour inspector Liane Durao, said during a news conference on Monday.
In one lodging, workers slept on beds without mattresses and there was only one bathroom for 31 people, MPT noted. The living arrangement forced workers to wake up at 4am, form a line to use the bathroom, and be ready to leave for work at 5:30am.
Conditions were similar in other lodgings as well, and all of them presented with “serious infrastructure and hygiene problems,” authorities said.
The bathrooms, in addition to being insufficient, were not separated by gender, did not have adequate toilet seats and presented poor hygiene conditions, they said.
Workers at the site were also forced to store food out in the open, often near construction materials and even the unsanitary bathrooms, authorities said.
‘Forced labour’ concerns
Meanwhile, workers at the site also faced long working hours and sleep deprivation caused by inadequate housing conditions, which led to several workplace accidents.
Each worker was contractually required to work at least 10 hours per day. One victim of accident at the site had worked 25-days without a break, authorities noted.
Officials also said the workers’ circumstances accounted for forced labour, as they had to pay a deposit, had 60% of their wages withheld, faced excessive costs for terminating their contracts, and had their passports withheld by the company.
“If a worker tried to terminate the employment contract after six months, he would leave the country without actually receiving anything for his work,” the MPT said in its statement.
“The discount of the deposit, the ticket to come to Brazil and the payment of the return ticket would, in practice, constitute a total confiscation of the amounts received by the workers throughout the employment relationship.”
BYD was aware of worker conditions
According to the authorities, the workers were hired in China by another firm and brought to Brazil irregularly.
Most of them have now been moved to hotels, and will have their employment contracts terminated, they said.
Authorities also vowed to continue inspections of the site. Construction of the site will not restart until worker accommodations are in line with regulations, they said.
BYD will need to present the measures it will take to guarantee minimum accommodation conditions, and addressing the irregularities found in inspections by Thursday, they said.
According to a report by the BBC, the Chinese carmaker said in a statement it had cut ties with the construction firm that employed the workers. It said it remained committed to a “full compliance with Brazilian legislation”.
It said it had previously reviewed the worker’s conditions and asked the construction firm on “several occasions” to make improvements.
- Vishakha Saxena
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