Volkswagen faces historic $30 million penalty for ‘exploiting’ workers in Brazil’s Amazon
On Friday, Brazil’s Labor Court ordered Volkswagen to pay 165 million Reais (about $ 30 million) in a turning point for collective moral damage after the workers were exposed to slave -like conditions on a company in the Amazon in the 1970s and 1980s.
According to prosecutors, this is the greatest repair of the species in the history of the country, AP notified.
Dozens of years of abuse emerges
The investigation into Volkswagen’s participation farm in the money province was launched in 2019 by the Labor Prosecutor. The investigation was encouraged by comprehensive documents provided by a local priest who has followed the case for decades. Following more investigations and witnesses, Volkswagen was officially accused in 2024.
The court accepted the accusations that hundreds of workers were subjected to humiliating conditions between 1974 and 1986 in the farm used for cattle farm and logic.
The farm employed approximately 300 workers under irregular agreements to clean the forest and prepare pastures. They were watched by the armed guards and forced to stay on the farm under captivity. In addition, it was claimed that “insecure housing and inadequate food ılan, which is necessary for healthy survival, was given. Workers who contract with diseases such as malaria were not given any medical care, AP He said in a news report.
Court’s decision
Judge Otavio Bruno Da Silva Ferreira’s decision confirmed that the farm belongs to Volkswagen and that the conditions meet the legal definition of slave labor.
“These practices have created one of the largest slave labor exploitation in Brazil’s recent history,” the Work Prosecutor said. AP.
Ferreira, “Slavery ‘has passed a present, because the signs remain in Brazilian society, especially in labor relations, Fer Ferreira wrote that understanding this heritage is important to understand and guide the current facts.
To appeal the Volkswagen decision
Volkswagen’s Brazilian headquarters made a statement saying that after the decision, he would appeal the court’s decision. In his 72 -year operation in Brazil, the company argued that “human dignity constantly defends the principles of dignity and certainly complies with all the labor laws and regulations in all effective”.
“Volkswagen confirms the invariable commitment to social responsibility, which is connected to his behavior as a legal entity and employer” AP he said, referring to the company’s testimony.
According to estimates from the Atlantic trans trade database, Brazil has a history of enslaving more people than other countries than Africa. In 1888, eliminating slavery was the last country in the Western hemisphere.
