Brazilian labor task force rescues 35 sugarcane workers from slavery‑like conditions in São Paulo

A joint task force comprising the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT) and the Federal Public Defender's Office rescued 35 workers who were subjected to conditions akin to modern slavery at the manual sugarcane cutting front of Fazenda Califórnia I in Gabriel Monteiro, São Paulo State. The inspection on 20 May revealed severe violations: no adequate sanitation, water, or protective equipment; meals taken on the cane field without tables or shelter; and substandard housing in nearby Santo Antônio do Aracanguá where workers slept on cement floors or cardboard pads, with faulty gas cylinders, unsanitary toilets and infestations of scorpions and cockroaches.

The agencies attributed responsibility to the service taker, citing an intermediary company lacking financial capacity. An administrative hearing resulted in a Termo de Ajuste de Conduta (TAC) obligating payment of R$ 666,012.45 – R$ 516,012.45 for severance and individual moral damages, and R$ 150,000 for collective moral damages – as well as measures to regularise working conditions and penalties for non‑compliance. The rescued workers were transferred to temporary accommodation, their travel costs covered, and they were entered onto the unemployment‑insurance eligibility list.