Grape harvesting in RS was done with a work regime similar to slavery – 02/24/2023 – Market

Rescued in an operation mobilized by MTE (Ministry of Labor and Employment), MPT-RS (Public Ministry of Labor of Rio Grande do Sul), Federal Police, Federal Highway Police on Wednesday night (22), the men who worked in the grape harvest in Bento Gonçalves (RS) in a regime analogous to slavery, report having been deceived and subjected to a routine of exploitation and horrors.

Since the rescue by the authorities, they were housed in the municipal gymnasium of the tourist town of Serra Gaúcha, where they would be identified so that, according to the MTE, they could receive payment from the company that hired them, the respective values ​​referring to labor rights and transport back home. . They will also receive three installments of unemployment insurance.

Most of the men were known to each other and lived in Salvador (BA). According to the MPT-RS, 192 men aged between 18 and 57 years old were rescued and the majority were between 20 and 39 years old.

At the gym, they reported having been deceived with proposals for temporary employment with payment of R$ 4,000, accommodation and meals. Some received the proposal sent through social networks by relatives and acquaintances. Others would have been enticed.

Since their arrival, in early February, they have found themselves housed in cramped rooms in a guest house in the Borgo neighborhood and subjected to a daily work routine from 5am to 8pm during the grape harvest, with days off only on Saturdays.

Workers reported being watched and intimidated by armed security, which included being dragged out of bed with a stun gun and constantly cursed for being Bahian. They also said that the food offered was spoiled and, if they wanted to buy other foods, they could only do so at a small market a few meters away, which practiced overpriced prices. In this case, the value would be deducted from the remuneration value at the end of the work.

If they wanted to leave the place, they were stopped by the security guards because they were indebted to the employer for accommodation and transportation. The sum of the practices led the MPT-RS to classify the practice as a case analogous to slavery and the operation that interrupted them as a rescue.

The case was discovered when six men managed to escape. Three went to Caxias do Sul and three to Porto Alegre, cities where they contacted the Federal Highway Police and reported the case.

Businessman Pedro Augusto Oliveira Santa, responsible for the companies Fênix Serviços de Apoio Administrativo and Oliveira & Santana, was arrested and released on bail of R$39,060.

As the workers told investigators, they provided services to three local wineries: Aurora, Cooperativa Garibaldi and Salton. According to MPT-RS, after payments to workers of severance pay and transportation to the city of origin, the institution will work on making the production chain responsible.

In a press release, Fênix declared that “the serious facts reported by the labor inspectorate will be clarified in a timely manner, during the course of the judicial process”.

The Aurora winery, also through a press release, said that it “stands in solidarity with the workers and reinforces that it does not condone” what they were subjected to. According to the published text, the winery hires, during the seasonal harvest period, “outsourced workers, due to the shortage of labor in the region” and that it transferred R$ 6,500 per month to the outsourced company for each worker.

Cooperativa Garibaldi, in a note, said that it was unaware of the reported situation and that, given the findings, it terminated the contract with the company for the provision of truck unloading services, but that it “followed all the requirements contained in the current legislation”.

The text also says that the cooperative “reiterates its commitment to respect for rights – both human and labor – and repudiates any conduct that could violate these precepts”.

Already Salton, also in a note, said that “the company does not have its own production of grapes in Serra Gaúcha, except for a few vineyards […] managed by its own team”, but that it had a contract with seven company workers in each shift for the unloading of cargo. process”.

The case in Bento Gonçalves led Uvibra (Brazilian Union of Vitiviniculture) to issue a note saying that it did not tolerate, “under any circumstances, the working and housing conditions offered by this service provider”.

The entity admitted that, although the wineries were not the employing companies, “there is broad agreement that the wine chain should be more vigilant and austere with regard to contracting outsourced services.” Uvibra also made itself available to participate in a collegiate with authorities and unions to monitor the issue of temporary services.