Brazilian authorities said on Monday they had halted construction work at a Chinese electric car maker BYD factory after workers were found to be living in “slave-like conditions.”
Brazilian Ministry of Public Labor (MPT) said in a statement BYD rescued 163 Chinese workers at a construction site in Kamakali City. The factory will become BYD’s first electric vehicle factory outside Asia.
A series of inspections since November “revealed alarming scenes of instability and degradation,” the report said.
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“We found… that the work of these 163 workers was carried out in conditions similar to slavery,” labor inspector Liane Durao said at a news conference on Monday.
The MPT noted that in one accommodation, workers slept on beds without mattresses and there was only one bathroom for 31 people. This living arrangement forces workers to wake up at 4 a.m., line up to use the toilet, and prepare to leave for work at 5:30 a.m.
Authorities said conditions were similar at other residences and all had “serious infrastructure and sanitation issues.”
In addition to a lack of space, the bathrooms were not segregated by gender, did not have enough toilet seats and were in poor sanitary conditions, they said.
Workers on site were also forced to store food in the open, often near building materials and even unsanitary bathrooms, authorities said.
“Forced labor” concerns
At the same time, on-site workers also face problems such as long working hours and lack of sleep due to poor living conditions, leading to many work-related injuries.
The contract stipulated that each worker should work at least 10 hours a day. Authorities noted that one accident victim at the scene had been on the job for 25 consecutive days.
Officials also said the workers’ situation was one of forced labor because they had to pay deposits, had 60% of their wages withheld, faced exorbitant fees for terminating their contracts and had their passports withheld by the company.
“If a worker attempts to terminate his employment contract after six months, he will leave the country without actually receiving any payment for his work,” the MPT said in a statement.
“In effect, the deposit, discount on air tickets to Brazil and return air tickets will constitute a total forfeiture of payments received by the worker throughout the period of employment.”
BYD understands workers’ situation
According to authorities, the workers were hired in China by another company and were brought to Brazil on an irregular basis.
Most of them have now been moved to hotels and will have their employment contracts terminated, they said.
Authorities also vowed to continue checking the scene. They said construction at the site would not restart until worker accommodation was brought into compliance.
BYD needs to come up with measures to guarantee minimum accommodation conditions and address irregularities found during inspections by Thursday, they said.
According to the British Broadcasting CorporationThe Chinese automaker said in a statement that it had severed ties with the construction company that employed the workers. It said it remained committed to “full compliance with Brazilian legislation”.
The company said it had previously reviewed the worker’s working conditions and asked the construction company “multiple times” to make improvements.
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