Brazil rescues workers in slave-like conditions

[Judi Lynn]

Brazil rescues workers in slave-like conditions
updated 2 hours 21 minutes ago

SAO PAULO — Authorities in Brazil say they have rescued nearly 100 workers who were allegedly living in slave-like conditions in sugarcane fields in the country's southeast.

The official Agencia Brasil news service says the workers in Rio de Janeiro state were not registered to work and did not have access to drinking water, protective gear or appropriate eating facilities.

The news service's Friday report says 50 other workers at a strawberry farm in Minas Gerais state also were rescued from the same conditions.

The employers will be fined.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39122538/ns/world_news-americas/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Last month: Brazil court upholds $3m 'slave labour' fine on firm

(edited for copyright purposes-proud patriot Moderator Democratic Underground)

19 August 2010 Last updated at 04:34 ET
Brazil court upholds $3m 'slave labour' fine on firm

A Brazilian court has upheld a fine of nearly $3m (£1.93m) on a company accused of keeping people as slave labourers on its ranches for years.

The fine is the biggest imposed for employing slave labour, the Supreme Labour Tribunal said in a statement.

Among 180 employees freed from the firm's two ranches in the state of Para in 1998 were several adolescents.

It is estimated some 25,000 people in Brazil still work in conditions that amount to slave labour.

In its ruling, the TST upheld a decision by a lower court to impose a financial penalty on Lima Araujo Agropecuaria, the firm that owns the ranches in the Amazonian state.

(snip)

More:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11021628

[Joe Chi Minh]

2. K&R

[Judi Lynn]

3. Brazilian officials rescue workers in slave-like conditions

Brazilian officials rescue workers in slave-like conditions
By Helena de Moura, CNN
September 12, 2010 1:05 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- Brazilian officials have said they will continue to crack down on farms accused of forcing workers into slave-like conditions, the country's labor ministry said after authorities rescued nearly 150 workers.

Brazil's labor ministry announced it had coordinated with law enforcement agencies to rescue 95 workers in Campo de Goytacazes, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and 51 workers in Cambui, in the Minas Gerais state.

In Minas Gerais, the 51 rescued strawberry pickers included adolescents between the ages of 15 and 17, ministry officials said in a statement on its website.

In Rio de Janeiro, the 95 rescued sugarcane harvesters had been denied basic sanitation, water and were carted around in dangerous modes of transport, the ministry said. Officials added both rescue operations took place in August.

According to ministry officials, both sets of workers were toiling under inhumane conditions around the clock without breaks. The workers were exposed to high level of pesticides. Many were minors, the ministry said.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/09/11/brazil.slavery/index.html

[Wilms]

4. kick n/t