Precarious work should see a sharp rise in Brazil, says ILO – 03/25/2023 – Market

The case of workers in a situation similar to slavery rescued from wineries in Rio Grande do Sul may be just the tip of the iceberg of a problem aggravated by the increase in poverty, the feeling of impunity and the lack of supervision in the country.

This assessment is made by economist Vinícius Pinheiro, who, in January of this year, took charge of the ILO (International Labor Organization) in Brazil.

In an interview with Sheet, he highlights the need for programs to reintegrate workers removed from this degrading context, so that they are not forced to return to this type of occupation. According to him, there is a dam in the complaints, inspection and rescue of workers.

“As the year progresses, you may be surprised that the networks of recruitment and coercion, of exploitation of workers, are much more ingrained than we realize,” he said.

Recently, we had cases of work analogous to slavery in large wineries. How can Brazil advance in this fight?

There were 918 people rescued so far, in the first three months of the year [até 20 de março], which is the highest level of the last 15 years. The winery was an expressive part, but there are in several other areas. In coffee, in charcoal, in soy exploration, in sugar cane.

It is also important to understand the causes, such as poverty, which has increased. So there is a structural cause for this increase in rescued people. Increased vulnerability condition.

Second, there was a sense of impunity. This was something that grew in particular in recent years. And, when there was a rescue, the penalty only reached the middleman, not the final person responsible. This also generated a sense of impunity on the criminal part. And, on the other hand, you also have the weakening of supervision. The last competition for labor inspectors was in 2003. There are 1,500 unfilled vacancies, which corresponds to 50% of the contingent.

A third element has to do with raising awareness of the issue. The more that is known about the condition of work analogous to slavery, the greater the public awareness and the greater the impact on the complaints.

What can be done?

On the one hand, there is the part of the companies’ co-responsibility. Companies must have responsible business conduct throughout the production chain. First there is a responsibility regarding human rights, labor rights. But there is also a responsibility on the product, if it does not suffer any damage in terms of image. Today, what wineries have learned is that such an impact on the product’s image is priceless.

Second, a strengthening of oversight. Something that can also facilitate is for Brazil to ratify ILO Convention 29 [de 2014]. It is an update of the legislation related to slave labor, which clearly defines in relation to international jurisprudence what work analogous to slavery is —which includes work that is coerced through debt, that has to do with painful conditions, with excessive worked hours.

In a way, Brazilian legislation is already in line with this protocol, but ratification by Brazil of this protocol would be a gesture towards the international community that Brazil is indeed committed to the eradication of slave labor.

Has the situation worsened in recent years, in the last government?

More permissive conditions were created for the exploitation of labor, precisely because of the increase in misery, extreme poverty, but also because of the feeling of impunity and a weakening of the State’s capacity.

By March, 918 people have been rescued, and if this incidence continues, by the end of the year there will be 4,000. It would be the highest number of rescued workers in nearly 20 years. And that [exploração] it will only change when there is an increase in supervision, greater accountability of companies over their production chains and greater effectiveness of the means of reporting.

A facet of slave labor that is still little known is domestic work. Every now and then a worker is known to have been rescued after 40 years. It’s a job that starts with child labor in many cases. And many do not realize that this is work analogous to slavery.

This characterization is only made from awareness. As education increases, as information to the public about this increases, so do denouncements and ransoms.

But, in addition, you need to know: after you rescue yourself, what will happen? It is necessary to reintegrate workers rescued into the labor market and social policies are fundamental.

Create a specific program for this?

Enrollment in an income transfer program, such as Bolsa Familia, is required to integrate the rescued person into the job market. In this matter of productive inclusion, support is not only for him, but also for his family.

We have the case of a worker who was rescued three times. He was rescued, but, in the face of poverty and people collecting debts, he returned. As he did not have mechanisms for reinserting himself into the labor market, he fell into the trap of slave labor again.

And it is necessary, above all, to dismantle the criminal organizations that are working on this, that recruit these workers.

Has Conatrae (National Commission for the Eradication of Slave Labor) been demobilized?

Conatrae is the main body that decides on policies regarding this issue, involving all the competent authorities: the Ministry of Labor, the Public Ministry of Labor, the Federal Police, in some cases the Civil Police, the Public Defender’s Office. Conatrae was demobilized. It was never completely dismantled, as was the Conaete (National Coordination for the Eradication of Slave Labor), which is a commission that deals with child labor.

Conaete was disstructured. As well as the Ministry of Labor. The Ministry of Labor became an undersecretary. The recreation of these spaces allows public policies to move in this direction. Of course, this will also mean a greater increase in redemptions, because there is a backlog.

There are indications that these practices there in Rio Grande do Sul are not practices from last year, they are recurrent practices. Suddenly this is just the tip of the iceberg that is coming to light and that, over the course of the year, you may be surprised that the networks of recruitment and coercion, of exploitation of workers, are much more ingrained than we have any idea. .

There was also a budget cut for inspection. Do you believe that the current government will review this?

At least the statements in terms of policy, prioritizing the issue, are all affirmative. And also the actions, public declarations of the competent authorities, of the Public Ministry of Labor, have all been in the sense that it will be [prioridade]but of course we still need to see.

If there is no supervision, there are no rescue cases. With people reporting, then you have to take action. Before there was Dial 100, from the Ministry of Justice, but there was a general sitting there. Imagine how many complaints got there and were left unfollowed. There, a system was created, parallel to Disque 100, which began to relieve complaints.

Is there any initiative to guarantee the co-responsibility of companies?

Does not exist. You have codes of conduct. For example, the UN Global Compact establishes that companies must have co-responsibility in the production chain. You have to be vigilant and have monitoring and due diligence mechanisms in place. But, unfortunately, it is not something that is still well established in the organizational culture of companies in Brazil.

Now, a major impetus for change is related in particular to exporting companies. Some markets, for example Germany, France and the European Union itself, are starting to demand that companies have mechanisms in place.

In Germany, if it’s a company with more than 5,000 employees and there’s a complaint, they can close their doors or impose sanctions. The European Union is discussing a policy on this and, if the directive is adopted, access to the European market will be restricted to this company, it will not be able to export. It is already a much more impactful dimension.

If you have phytosanitary problems, disease problems, you cannot export. In this case, it is as if it were also a disease in the production chain of these companies. Sanctions could be imposed on the export of a specific company, from a CNPJ, because a problem was found. The international system is moving towards this.

With regard to the extinction of Conaete, was the impact on the increase in child labor measured?

There are signs of an increase in child labor. It was a combination of two things: the economic crisis and Covid. Whenever the crisis increases, child labor increases, because children are called upon to supplement their income. And on the other hand, schools were closed.

This meant school dropouts in some cases and an increase in child labour. You are compromising a generation. These are people who, after leaving school, rescue them from child labor is very costly. We have this challenge to get these kids back to school before they are lost.

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Vinícius Pinheiro, 51

An economist with a master’s degree in Political Science from the UNB, Pinheiro was Deputy Minister of Social Security and Secretary of Social Security from 1998 to 2002. He served as the main specialist in Social Security at the OECD and was a consultant for the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. Between 2020 and 2022, he held the position of ILO Regional Director for the Latin America and Caribbean region.