In 2013, according to Brazil’s Ministry of Labor and Employment, a total of 2,063 people were freed from slave-like working conditions in Brazil. Of those freed, 1,068 were working in metropolitan areas, and most of them were working in the construction industry.
The United Nation’s International Labor Organization reports that there are as many as 20 million people throughout the world who are subjected to forced labor. A large percentage of those people live in Latin America.
It’s difficult for the average person to believe that slave labor still exists, and that it can be found in modern cities. However, it is a reality that Brazil is taking serious steps to eliminate.
In May 2014, Brazil’s National Congress passed Constitutional Amendment No. 81. It provides that a property owner that exploits an employee without paying correct wages may have his or her property confiscated by the government.
At a ceremony announcing the amendment, the president of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, lamented that more than a century after the abolition of slavery, Brazil is still not free from this evil.
Slave Labor Is Big Business
According to a report from the São Paulo parliament committee investigating forced labor, there are 10,000 illegal sewing workshops in the state where 200,000 are subject to slave-like working conditions. Many of the workers are Bolivian immigrants.
It’s well-known that slave-like working conditions exist in the rural areas of Brazil to such a degree that it is practically built into the economy. In many rural areas, workers are exploited in forestry, harvesting, and the manufacture of charcoal. Over the past few years, this type of victimization has spread into the urban textile and construction industries.
Constitutional Amendment a Long Time Coming
Efforts to establish a strong law to deal with slave labor has taken a very long time. The bill was introduced more than 15 years ago, but it was placed on hold in the face of political opposition.
Prior to the amendment, Brazil launched multiple efforts to weed out slave labor and raise awareness of the problem. In 1995, the Ministry of Labor formed the Mobile Inspection Special Group, which helped government agencies better coordinate to address the problem. The government also publishes “laundry list” of slave labor that includes the names of companies and farms caught with slave-like working conditions.
