{"id":23899,"date":"2015-08-18T09:00:40","date_gmt":"2015-08-18T12:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=23899"},"modified":"2016-06-04T23:36:28","modified_gmt":"2016-06-05T02:36:28","slug":"ministry-of-labor-rescues-11-slave-laborers-working-on-olympics-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=23899","title":{"rendered":"Ministry of Labor Rescues 11 Slave-Laborers Working on Olympics Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/a><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For the original in Portuguese published in O Dia,\u00a0click\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Rio de Janeiro\u2013Friday August 14, the Ministry of Labor in Rio de Janeiro (MPT-RJ) and the Ministry of Labor\u00a0and Employment (MTE) rescued 11 workers in a situation analogous to slavery, all living in one house and one kitchenette, without sewage pipes, amongst rats and cockroaches. According to the investigation, the workers had come from other states to work for the contractor Brasil Global Servi\u00e7os, that manages construction of the Ilha Pura (Pure Island) Project<\/a>, a residential complex\u00a0that will house the Olympic Village<\/a> and serve as lodging for athletes and organizers. During the inspection conducted by the two agencies, the workers were found living in degrading conditions in lodgings provided by the company.<\/p>\n

According to Val\u00e9ria Correa, the state prosecutor responsible for the investigation, the workers were brought from their home states with the promise of room and board, and reimbursement for travel expenses. However, they were found living in a house and two kitchenette apartments in the Beira Rio<\/a> community, without a stable structure and minimal conditions of hygiene. <\/strong>\u201cThere were cockroaches, rats and sewage in the residences. Many slept outside of the property, because of the extent of the filth,\u201d <\/strong>said the state prosecutor.<\/p>\n

The company Brasil Global has around 300 employees. According to information offered by company representatives in a meeting with the MPT-RJ, the company hires\u00a0labor for the Ilha Pura Complex<\/a> in Recreio, contracted by the construction company Odebrecht, in addition to construction projects in Barra da Tijuca<\/a>, for Queiroz Galv\u00e3o. Both companies are cited in the Operation Lava Jato corruption investigation<\/a>. \u201cWe will also seek accountability from the other companies in the chain of production,\u201d emphasized the state’s attorney.<\/p>\n

\"Ilha<\/a><\/p>\n

The bricklayer\u00a0Francis Silva (not his real name), 58, told how he came to live with 30 other workers in one of the homes paid for by the company. He left Santa Helena, in the state of Maranh\u00e3o, attracted by the employment offer, but said that he wanted to return and find new work. \u201cConsidering the degrading lodging conditions and that there was a unilateral alteration of the contract when the company decided to stop paying the rent, the characteristic elements of working conditions analogous to slavery are present,\u201d explained the state\u00a0prosecutor.<\/p>\n

With the rescue, the 11 workers\u2013the majority from Maranh\u00e3o, with others from Para\u00edba, Bahia and Esp\u00edrito Santo\u2013received all of their rights and entitlements as workers, in addition to reimbursement of expenses that should have been paid for by the contractor. As a result of the settlement signed with the MPT-RJ, the company paid approximately R$70,000 (US$20,103), in severance pay, which included vacations, overtime and payroll taxes. The company also agreed to temporarily accommodate the workers in a hotel, refund the costs of travel to Rio de Janeiro, bear the cost of return tickets to their home states, as well as any material items acquired by employees during their time in Rio.<\/p>\n

\"Ilha<\/a><\/p>\n

Through the recognition of their labor rights, the workers will be able to receive unemployment insurance. By having worked in a situation recognized as analogous to slavery, they will receive the equivalent of the minimum wage as unemployment insurance for three months. With this, Jos\u00e9 Ant\u00f4nio (not his real name), 25, who along with his two brothers came from Turil\u00e2ndia, Maranh\u00e3o, six months ago to work on the project, intends to return to his home city to reunite with his three sons and wife. \u201cThere isn\u2019t a lot of opportunity for employment there, but I’d rather be there than here in these conditions. I\u2019d prefer go back home and be close to my family,\u201d he affirmed.<\/p>\n

According to the state’s attorney for labor issues, Guadalupe Turos Couto, who will take over the case, the MPT-RJ will move to require the payment of individual and collective moral damages\u2013as the company refused to pay administrative and legal fees\u2013as well as an additional fine if the company returns to illegal work practices. In addition to work analogous to slavery, the company is being investigated for other labor irregularities such as the late payment of wages, the non-payment of severance pay and not allowing workers breaks during the workday.<\/p>\n

\"Ilha<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas For the original in Portuguese published in O Dia,\u00a0click\u00a0here.\u00a0 Rio de Janeiro\u2013Friday August 14, the Ministry of Labor in Rio de Janeiro (MPT-RJ) and the Ministry of Labor\u00a0and Employment (MTE) rescued […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":23910,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1736,1288,1330,336],"tags":[9,225,25,1452,367,5,279,21],"writer":[1764],"translator":[1659],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-1736","8":"category-highlight","9":"category-translation","10":"category-violations","11":"tag-9","12":"tag-barra-da-tijuca","13":"tag-human-rights","14":"tag-ilha-pura","15":"tag-odebrecht","16":"tag-olympics","17":"tag-slavery","18":"tag-west-zone","19":"writer-o-dia","20":"translator-christopher-owens"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23899"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=23899"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=23899"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=23899"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=23899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}