Alderman from Rio Grande do Sul says that wineries should not hire workers from the Northeast

The councilor of the city of Caxias do Sul (RS), Sandro Fantinel, said in the session on Monday (27) that the wineries of Rio Grande do Sul should stop hiring workers from the Northeast to harvest grapes and look for labor in the Argentina. The audio of the speech at the City Council was released this Tuesday (28) and refers to the operation of the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT) that found 192 men in conditions analogous to slavery last week.

According to him, farmers in the state should no longer “hire those people from above”, and that Argentines “are clean, hardworking, correct” and that, on the day they leave, “they thank the boss for the service provided” .

“I’m going to give you some advice: don’t hire those people from above anymore. Talk to me, let’s create a line and let’s hire the Argentines. Because all the farmers who have Argentines working today just clap their hands. They are clean, hardworking, correct, keep the hours, keep the house clean, and on the day they leave, they thank the boss for the service provided and for the money they received”.

In the speech, Fantinel says that the culture of workers in Bahia “is to live on the beach playing drums. It was normal that he would have this kind of problem.” “Leave aside those people who are used to carnival and parties so you don’t get bothered (sic) again”.

The councilor’s speeches generated an immediate reaction among other members of the house, such as Lucas Caregnato (PT), who says that Fantinel’s statement was “xenophobic and discriminatory”.

“As a citizen and councilor of Caxias do Sul, I vehemently repudiate the statements. We have never been silent and will remain silent in the face of any act of hatred and intolerance,” he said.

Already councilor Leonel Radde (PT) says that he filed a police report against Sandro Fantinel and that “Rio Grande do Sul and Brazil are not places for racists, slaveholders”. He also criticized a speech by the mayor of Bento Gonçalves, Diogo Siqueira, that the wineries were not aware of the situation experienced by the workers of the outsourced company hired for the harvest.

The governor of Bahia, Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT), also criticized Fantinel’s statements, saying that he will not allow “any northeastern or Bahian person to be treated with prejudice or resentment”.

“It is inhuman, shameful and unacceptable to see that there are Brazilians capable of defending human cruelty. Therefore, I determined the adoption of appropriate measures so that the councilor is held accountable for his speech, ”he said.

The direction of the Chamber of Caxias do Sul did not comment on Fantinel’s statements. To Folha de São Paulo, the councilor said that he will apologize for the lines this Wednesday (1), in the plenary session, and that he “said too much”.

“This agenda gained great repercussions due to the events in Bento Gonçalves, which in my view are exaggerated and mediatic. Companies that are very important for our mountain range and our country are suffering a true virtual lynching”, he said.

Assistance to workers

Earlier this week, the Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Services of Bento Gonçalves (RS) released a note stating that wineries face difficulty in finding labor.

“There is a large portion of the population with full productive conditions and that, even so, is inactive, surviving through a welfare system that has nothing to do with society,” he said.

This Tuesday (28), the entity released another note in which it reviews its position on the previous statement, saying it understands that “public assistance policies are a fundamental part of the social commitment to offer protection to people in vulnerable situations”.

“Our commitment, as an entity, is to provide opportunities for people not to depend exclusively on welfare to survive – but to find an incentive to enter/return with dignity to the labor market. The greatest welfare program that can exist is to dignify people through employment and, with this purpose, the CIC-BG is making a very valuable social contribution”, he concludes (see in full)

Task force

This Tuesday (28), the government of Rio Grande do Sul created a task force to deal with measures to prevent the occurrence of new cases like the one discovered last week with Fênix Serviços de Apoio Administrativo, a third-party company contracted by Aurora wineries, Salton and Garibaldi for the harvest.

According to Governor Eduardo Leite (PSDB), the entire structure of the government will be put in place “to amplify the inspection capacity, mainly in activities that demand the expansion of labor very quickly at certain times, as is the case of harvests, and which become situations of risk”.

He also states that the Department of Health will issue a technical note on adequate accommodation and food conditions focusing on harvest workers to assist in the inspection work and enhance the activities of Occupational Health Surveillance. In harvest times, he says, the population of Serra Gaúcha receives around 100,000 workers.

The three wineries targeted by the operation say they were unaware of the shelter conditions practiced by Fênix.