Volkswagen refuses to pay compensation for slave labor

Representatives of the German automaker Volkswagen have left the negotiating table with the Brazilian Labor Prosecution Office over alleged cases of slave labor at a farm which the company owned in the 1970s and 1980s, during the military dictatorship.

The company was asked to pay BRL 165 million (USD 32 million) in compensation to 14 workers who were subjected to degrading working conditions. Part of the value would also be used to find other people who experienced the same conditions.

Volkswagen said it did not agree with “all the allegations” of the investigation, which is said was “one-sided and presented by a third party”. Prosecutors said they would take “extrajudicial and judicial measures” to ensure the damage is repaired.

The case was revealed by the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and public broadcaster NDR in May 2022, but the investigation began in 2019 after information was gathered by a group that studies slave labor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Companhia Vale do Rio Cristalino Agropecuária, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, had about 300 workers on a farm in the interior of the northern state of Pará. Those who worked on logging operations had no employment relationship and were subjected to armed vigilance and degrading working conditions.

At that time, the military regime encouraged agricultural expansion in the Amazon region. The farm received more than BRL 700 million (in today’s money) in tax breaks and incentives from the Brazilian government.

Last week, The Brazilian Report showed that cases of modern slavery remain a problem for Brazil. In the first three months of the year alone, nearly 1000 people were rescued – and experts say the numbers may be underestimated. 

More than 60,000 workers have been rescued since Brazil created dedicated slave labor task forces in 1995, more than 60,000 workers have been rescued. More than 90 percent are men, most were born in the Northeast, and more than 80 percent are black.

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