The Labor Court in Reasonção in the State Pará ordered the Brazilian branch of Volkswagen on Friday to pay 165 million Real (26 million euros) in compensation for the illegal exploitation of workers in the 1970s and eighties. According to the prosecutor, it is about the highest fine ever imposed for modern slavery in Brazil.
Volkswagen has already announced an appeal. “With a tradition of 72 years, the company consistently adheres to the principles of human dignity and strictly lives on all appropriate labor laws and regulations,” said Volkswagen Do Brasil.
“In one year 51,500 jobs away in the German car industry”
The accusations relate to the circumstances on the Fazenda Vale do Rio Cristalino farm, who was owned by a subsidiary of Volkswagen Do Brasil. The cattle farm was founded with the support of the military dictatorship as part of a national strategy to develop and colonize the Amazon.
The investigation started in 2019 after a priest had scooped out the case. According to the allegations, hundreds of workers on the farm, also known as Fazenda Volkswagen, were subjected to long working days and humiliating working conditions. Armed guards and a system of debt slavery prevented the workers from leaving the farm, according to the researchers.
