Slave labor: rescue at Caravelas supplier – 03/06/2023 – Market

The MPT (Ministério Público do Trabalho) rescued 32 men in work similar to slavery on a farm in Pirangi (380 km from São Paulo) that supplied sugar cane to the Caravelas brand.

The rescue took place on January 26, in a joint operation carried out by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Public Ministry of Labor, the Federal Public Defender’s Office and the Federal Highway Police.

The information about the case having occurred in a cane field that supplied the product to Caravelas was published by the newspaper Brasil de Fato.

According to the authorities, the victims had come from the mining towns of Francisco Badaró, Minas Novas, Turmalina, Jenipapo de Minas and Berilo and were taken to the interior of São Paulo by two men who promised them employment and salary.

These men would work for a third party that does weeding and replanting seedlings on the farm, a supplier to Colombo Agroindústria, owner of the refined sugar brand Caravelas. According to the company, it is a rural property “that does not belong to Colombo, but a leased farm for planting”.

According to the report, the workers had to pay out of their own pocket for the tickets to the place where the lodgings were located, in the neighboring city of Palmares Paulista. The cost was BRL 320 per person, and they were transported clandestinely in two vans, according to the investigation.

Arriving in the city, they would have been subjected to poor conditions of hygiene and comfort – housed in houses and in a commercial room, where a butcher shop had previously operated.

The accommodations had old mattresses, torn ceilings, stoves and refrigerators in poor condition, bathrooms in precarious conditions of hygiene and exposed electrical installations.

In testimony, the workers also said they did not have the resources to pay for food and could only eat when they arrived at their destination, through the purchase of food at a local market by the turmeiros (the people who hire manual workers). Over time, debts to the establishment were transferred to employees.

Also according to the MPT, the outsourced RPC Serviços de Plantio entered into a TAC (Conduct Adjustment Term) before the MPT and the DPU (Defensoria Pública da União), in which it undertook to pay the severance pay due to the rescued and transport costs for returning workers to their hometowns.

It was also determined that the amounts referring to one-way tickets to Palmares Paulista must be reimbursed and that the debt contracted with the market must be paid by the signatories.

The TAC also stipulated that a series of labor obligations related to housing, health and safety at work, payment of wages and formalization of contracts were adopted.

According to the MPT, the obligations were paid by the company in early February.

The refined sugar brand Caravelas appeared on the market in 1994. According to company information, it has more than 5,000 direct employees and is one of the largest sugar and ethanol producers in the country.

In the 2021/22 harvest, the company obtained gains of BRL 251.59 million, down 37.9% compared to BRL 405.33 million in the previous cycle.

In a note, Colombo says that the company acted to support the work carried out by the MPT, set up an investigation, ensure the return of workers to their homes of origin, and intensified efforts to make sure that all other workers were in a regular housing situation. and work.

“The incident, involving the service provider RPC, was a one-off event and not immediately identified by our management due to the few days the workers stayed in the city. Certainly the company’s inspection routines would have identified any alleged irregularity.”

Read the full position of Colombo Agroindústria below:

What do we know about the case so far?

This is a situation that occurred with workers from the company contracted for planting, RPC – Serviços de Plantio, which was the subject of a complaint to the Ministry of Labor.

Colombo still does not know the source of the accusations and did not have access to the content of the entire process undertaken by the MPT. Such information is being requested by Colombo to the agency.

Colombo is most interested in understanding what happened and is, through an investigation, mapping possible conduct that is out of line with its governance in the execution of third-party service provision.

Over 20 years, Colombo operates with contracting for planting and has never experienced a similar situation. In addition, said company performed such services 3 times in consecutive years, without identifying any irregularity in its conduct.

The inspection carried out by a mobile group took place on January 25th and 26th, 2023, first on a rural property in the municipality of Pirangi (SP) that does not belong to Colombo, but rather is a leased farm for planting. Next, the inspection took place in five properties in the city of Palmares Paulista (SP) that are not Colombo facilities either.

A report on the MPT action reported irregularities in the quality of housing offered by the PRC and lack of compliance with health requirements, in the location where five workers resided in one property and one worker in another. That’s why there was a ban. Subsequently, the inspection demanded that the PRC immediately terminate the employment contracts of all thirty-two workers. Of this total, 26 terminations were determined by the inspection team as a preventive measure, since they came from the same region.

The workers were hired and had been duly registered for 10 days by the PRC, but they worked in a few days on the plantation due to the rains that occurred in the region. Based on the information we have access to, the mobile group did not find any irregularities in the field or on Colombo’s premises.

It is important to note that there is no investigation directed at Colombo, which has not committed any irregular conduct, much less those that are being attributed to the company R Pereira Coelho.

What is our conduct to monitor and prevent these events?

Colombo Agroindústria S/A is a company with more than 80 years of existence and always recognized for the zealous compliance with the laws, whose performance is permanently marked by respect for employees, service providers, the community, the environment and society in general.

We do not tolerate any form of hiring direct or indirect employees that is not in compliance with the law and with respect for human dignity.

The company has clear policies and guidelines to guide the selection of suppliers based on socio-environmental criteria, including human rights, labor practices and reduction of impacts on society. These policies are communicated to everyone involved in the supplier selection process, as well as potential suppliers.

We carry out on-site audits to assess the socio-environmental practices of suppliers. These audits can be conducted by internal or external auditors and assess topics such as labor practices, health and safety, environmental impacts, waste management, human rights, among others.

The incident reported here, involving the service provider RPC, was a one-off event and not immediately identified by our management due to the few days the workers stayed in the city. Certainly, the company’s inspection routines would have identified any alleged irregularity.

What have we done?

Since we became aware of it, we have acted under the management of our Compliance area, in a timely and immediate manner. We installed a verification and investigation procedure, through an external consultancy, which is already part of the company’s governance.

We supported the Public Ministry of Labor at that time, providing all the information necessary for the course of investigations into the actions of the company R Pereira Coelho Serviços de Plantio. We are available for any new requests from the body.

We ensured that the employees involved in the situation immediately returned to their homes of origin.

We reinforced our efforts to make sure that all other workers had regular and safe working conditions and housing.

We extend to all companies that provide services similar to those in the PRC the review of collective housing conditions, immediately, regardless of prior notice. This work continues to be carried out every day.

We hold monthly meetings with the Audit and Risks, Tax and Compliance committees conducted by specialized professionals, who bring strategic subsidies to support the Board of Directors in directing actions that impact the company’s operations. The main objective is to identify and present solutions for regulatory, legal, financial, operational, environmental, security technology risks, among others.

We determined that, within 60 days, an interdepartmental committee, made up of the areas involved in hiring processes and relationships with service providers, would work on a critical analysis and implement improvements to the current policy, procedures and instructions for hiring services.

Finally, we make ourselves available so that everything is clarified as soon as possible. We reinforce our repudiation of work practices analogous to slavery and our commitment to ethics, legality and respect for human rights.