Worker had no bathroom or refrigerator, says inspector – 06/19/2023 – Market

A rural worker who would be in degrading conditions was rescued by auditors from the MTE (Ministry of Labor and Employment) on June 6 in Conceição da Barra de Minas (232 km from Belo Horizonte). According to authorities, he did not receive a salary and did not have access to a bathroom, electric shower and refrigerator where he lived.

The auditors carried out the inspection after an anonymous complaint was made by Dial 100. The victim, 58, is known by family members like Nelson. According to the investigation, he had worked for at least 16 years performing rural services for the same employer.

Sought, the employer’s lawyer, Victor Ivan Lopes Taroco, reported that the way the situation is being exposed does not match the reality of the facts. “Thus, the due clarifications are already being provided to the competent bodies, avoiding unfair prior judgments”, he said.

According to inspection, documents of Nelson were retained by the employer.

According to Luciano Rezende, MTE’s labor inspector, the violations went beyond the denial of rights. “Alongside the absence of fair conditions, the non-payment of wages, the usurpation of periods of rest and leisure, the worker was denied the basics for maintaining his existence. The victim had usurped his right to water, food, hygiene, housing. He lacked the basics, the bare minimum. And he still didn’t even have the right to buy them with his money, because he didn’t even receive a salary for his work”, says the auditor.

In an interview with SheetNelson says that he had known the employer since childhood and that he had invited him, in 2007, to carry out services in the field, such as milking cows, making fences and clearing the land.

“[Na época, ele] He promised a small salary, R$90. He even started to pay more than one salary. Then, the shopping began”, says Nelson.

He says that the employer proposed not to pay in cash, but that there would be remuneration through the purchase of items in the market. “At the beginning he paid, after about three months, he started not paying. And he said: ‘Whatever you need to buy, let me know and I’ll bring it. me”, says the worker to the report.

Nelson says that the farm is 40 minutes away, on foot, from the house he has in the same city, inherited from his father. According to the auditors, in the shed where he stayed there was no bathroom, shower, sink, faucet or refrigerator.

“There was no running water there. I used to fetch water from a can in a stream. I boiled it on a wood stove, put it in the shower to take a shower”, says the worker. The auditors claim that the showerhead used in the baths was a kind of container attached to a beam.

According to the inspection, the place did not have a bathroom, nor items for personal use, such as soap and toilet paper. “There was no toilet. The boss even prepared the room, but due to problems with the work, he gave up finishing it. He said: ‘Let’s leave [a obra] stop, anything you go home and use'”, says Nelson.

Due to the distance between work and home, the man says he preferred not to go back to use the bathroom. If necessary, he would relieve himself in a nearby bush, he told auditors.

The inspection also reported that the site did not have a refrigerator. Asked, Nelson said he cooked on a wood stove every day, since there was no way to preserve food. The meats were kept in fat, so as not to spoil, says the worker.

“A while ago, the boss brought meat. As there wasn’t enough fat, he switched to bacon. He made fried pork rinds with rice, beans and vegetables.” To wash his clothes, he says he used water from the nearby river.

According to the verification of labor inspectors, the former employer would have registered in Nelson’s name with Auxílio Brasil (former name of Bolsa Família), at the end of 2022, in addition to a joint savings account in the bank, in the name of both, opened in March. The worker claims that he received a small part of the money, and the rest of the amounts were deposited in the account.

The inspectors reported that a black Volkswagen Saveiro Cross was parked near the rescue site, and that the vehicle is in Nelson’s name.

The worker claims that, after putting the car in his name, the employer would have kept his CPF and his identity card, in addition to the Bolsa Família card, for more than a year. “The documents stayed with him, and he said ‘Leave them with me, at least you won’t lose them.’ I even replied that I don’t lose, I never lost documents, “he says.

According to labor inspectors, he received amounts from his former employer that correspond to less than 5% of what he is entitled to. The Public Ministry negotiates a TAC (Conduct Adjustment Term) with the former employer’s lawyer.

How to report cases of contemporary slave labor

Anonymous denouncements of work similar to slavery can be made by Dial 100, of the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship (MDHC); and by the Ipê System, from the Ministry of Labor, at the link

According to the Penal Code, in article 149, the worker is in conditions analogous to that of a slave if subjected to forced labor, exhausting hours, degrading working conditions, debt slavery or retention in the workplace. If a case meets any of these criteria, it can already be classified as work analogous to slavery.

The retention of the worker takes place through prohibition of the use of means of transport, overt surveillance or possession of documents or personal objects.

According to data from the Ministry of Labor released by Folha this Thursday (15), the number of workers rescued in a situation similar to slavery in 2023 is already the highest for a first half in 12 years. As of June 14, the government reported finding 1,443 people in slavery-like work. In the entire first half of 2022, there were 771, according to official data.