According to data obtained by Reuters, BYD and Jinjiang, the company building a car factory in Brazil, brought a total of about 500 Chinese workers to the country.
Slave labor
Last month it was established that 163 of them, employed by BYD contractor Jinjiang, were victims of human trafficking and worked in conditions resembling slaveryeven though BYD has committed to complying with local labor laws with respect to employees remaining in the country.
Penalty for each employee
Liane Durao, who is a labor inspector on the team monitoring workplace safety for the Brazilian Ministry of Labor, assured that BYD will be fined for each employee found in this situation. However, he did not provide details on the total amount of fines.
They are all leaving Brazil or have already left it, said Durao, who led the investigation announced in late December.
BYD and Jinjiang did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. However, BYD previously announced that it had severed contacts with Jinjiang.
Meanwhile, Shenzhen-based private company Jinjiang, which was founded in 2002 and is authorized to provide construction services, disputes the allegations made by Brazilian authorities.
The information comes from Reuters
