Wineries will pay BRL 7 million per case of slave labor – 03/10/2023 – Market

The MPT (Ministério Público do Trabalho) signed on Thursday night (9) a term of conduct adjustment with the Aurora, Garibaldi and Salton wineries, involved in the case of work analogous to slavery caught on February 24 in Bento Gonçalves, in Rio Grande do Sul.

In compensation, the wineries will pay R$ 7 million — of which R$ 2 million will be transferred equally to the rescued workers and R$ 5 million will be in fines for collective moral damage, which will be invested by the MPT in actions to combat slave labor and other social measures.

The wineries will pay different amounts, established according to what the investigation found about the responsibility of each one: Aurora will pay R$ 2 million (R$ 916 thousand of these to workers), Salton R$ 1.7 million (R$ 716 thousand to workers) and to Garibaldi R$ 916 thousand (R$ 376 thousand to workers).

The companies also assumed 21 obligations of do’s and don’ts to improve the service procurement process, with the inspection of working conditions and rights of own and outsourced workers, and to prevent new similar cases from happening again in the future.

Another objective expressed in the document is to monitor compliance with labor rights in the production chain. The agreed obligations take effect immediately.

Fênix, the outsourced company directly responsible for the degrading situation in which the workers found themselves, did not sign an agreement with the MPT. As a result, the Labor Court ordered the blocking of R$ 3 million from the company, which is still under criminal investigation.

In an open letter to society, Vinícola Aurora published that the recent events involving the company’s relationship with Fênix “shame and infuriate”. Aurora also asks “the most sincere apologies to the workers victimized by the situation”.

The Cooperativa Garibaldi reported having received “with surprise and indignation” the denouncements of practices analogous to slavery. The company says it has terminated the service provision contract and made itself available to the authorities to collaborate with the investigations.

Also in an open letter, Salton reported that, upon becoming aware of “the very serious rescue that took place on the premises of the service provider, we immediately suspended the employment contract”, says the statement.