Over 100 Brazilian Employers Charged With Slave-like Conditions
A report by a federal department announced 109 Brazilian employers have been charged with keeping slave-like work conditions in the first half of the year, according to La Tercera.
This report ended in June, just before the start of the 2014 World Cup, when reports of human trafficking and poor work conditions were revealed by international media, surrounding the construction of the stadiums.
But a majority of the employers in the Ministry of Labor and Employment's report are from rural areas, reports La Tercera.
The government intervened in 57 cases, once an employer was recognized for poor work conditions in factories and on farms, and the workers were rescued.
The state of Minas Gerais was where most workers, 91, were rescued from slave labor, according to La Tercera. Other rescues include 86 from Espírito Santo, 53 from Goiás, 46 from Sao Paulo and 37 from Pará.
By comparison, last year there were 179 cases and more than 2,000 workers rescued.
The list of more than 100 employers charged has been added to the "Dirty List" -- a list of employers created in 2005, which provides the public with knowledge of which employers do not offer adequate work conditions.
But the government has been fighting the employers for almost two decades -- in that time the Ministry has fined employers almost $38 million, and rescued more than 46,000 workers.
Employers on the list are prevented from obtaining credits from banks (government or private) unless they improve conditions, according to USA Today.
Brazil considers slave-like conditions when an employee is receiving less than minimum wage, working exhausting hours or is prevented from leaving the employer because of a debt owed.
A report in 2012 revealed the list had nearly 300 members, and in order get off the list the employers must also pay fines and unpaid labor-related taxes.
"The biggest penalty they (the blacklisted employers) face is not being able to get credits from the banks," said Alexandre da Cunha Lyra, head of the Labor Ministry's inspection service, told USA Today in 2012. "They are not worried with how much of a fine they will have to pay, but with possibility of not receiving any financing."
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