A 57-year-old worker was rescued, last Friday (19), from a situation similar to slavery on a property in the city of Encruzilhada do Sul, in Rio Grande do Sul. Having worked for a decade in the production of charcoal and firewood in a farm, the man, born in Montenegro (RS), was not registered with the Work and Social Security Card (CTPS), nor did he receive a regular salary, holidays or 13th salary.
Photo: Disclosure/MPT-RS / Porto Alegre 24 hours
The mobile operation to Combat Slave Labor, which included the participation of the Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU), the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT), the Federal Highway Police (PRF), the Federal Police (PF) and tax auditors of work, revealed that the worker’s salary was not paid monthly, but rather at intervals of two or three months. Furthermore, items such as alcoholic beverages and tobacco were deducted from the payment, which contradicts the CLT.
The worker also did not enjoy regular vacations, having only gone on vacation twice in a decade without receiving payment. In addition to payment irregularities, the housing conditions provided by the employer were degrading, with unplastered walls and a bed improvised by the worker himself.
Widowed, the worker mainly carried out unhealthy activities of logging and burning coal. The task force also found that the housing conditions provided by the employer were precarious, with water coming from an open source on the land and without quality assessment.
After the rescue, an agreement was signed with the employer. Under the Conduct Adjustment Term (TAC), he will pay R$55,000 to the worker, with a down payment and 10 installments, in addition to compensation for individual and collective moral damages. The worker was sent back to Montenegro, with guaranteed payment of severance pay, after statements at the headquarters of the State Public Ministry (MP-RS) in Encruzilhada.
